The Second Key
by Be Boring
Summary: CONCLUDED As the Coming approaches, transgenics are separated. Sequel to 'Outside'. You MUST read that one first. None of it's as boring as it sounds, please r &r! Epilogue: 4 months later, lives move on for better or for worse.
1. Out With The Old, In With The New

Author's Note: This is the sequel to "Outside", and I can guarantee that you'll be lost if you don't read that first. If you haven't, then you'd better get your butt over there to read it. :)

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 1: Out With The Old, In With The New

The atmosphere in Terminal City was highly tense. Many of the transgenics were feeling cooped up. After all, wasn't the point of this whole thing to keep them from being cooped up ever again? To a lot of them, especially Mole, Terminal City was no different than Manticore. They were still trapped by the government.

Max had been feeling more and more hopeless every day. She was constantly being pressured by the others to do something about their present situation, but truthfully, there really wasn't anything she could do. If a transgenic head so much as popped up into the view of the troops waiting outside, it would be fired at, so she couldn't exactly start up a conversation with the military. Nobody out there seemed to be thinking of peace, just of getting rid of what they thought to be the enemy. It was only some of the transgenics who knew who the true enemy was. That was what Max was wondering about. There seemed to be no activity from White in the four days she had been here. She had figured he would be taking advantage of the situation so he could get rid of them. Raising the flag yesterday hadn't soothed her mind, it had made her more nervous. It was like challenging the people outside to fight them, they were a tiny nation ready to do battle.

One of Max's other concerns were the regular people in Terminal City. Logan seemed to be doing okay, but that was because of Joshua's blood in him. Sketchy and Original Cindy however, weren't doing so well. They were starting to feel sick and didn't seem to have much strength anymore. They now pretty much spent their time laying down and trying to preserve what little health they had. Max had expected Kay to show up as soon as news of what was going on in Seattle got out, but she hadn't come. Surely the news must have reached her by now. Max had been counting on her help with getting Logan, OC, and Sketchy out of this place.

The other thing she wondered about was the other X5s. Max knew her name had been mentioned several times on the news, but where was her family? None of the '09 escapees had made an appearance here, was their family not as tight as she had thought it was? Where was everyone?

* * *

Zack threw the hamburgers he had picked up into the back seat. Sandeman sleepily pulled one out and started eating, but Brin just looked at it with disgust. Zack sighed and started up the van. He knew Brin wasn't going to eat anything for a few days, that was one of the things about her that annoyed him. Whenever something upset her, the first thing to go would be her appetite, despite the fact that she needed the food to keep her energy up. _Why is she so immature about these things? _

Sandeman had stayed quiet during the whole ride to Seattle. He knew perfectly well that these two X5s didn't like him. Kay and Ben were the two that would have been somewhat friendly, but they weren't here. In fact, from what he knew, only about one third of the group that had come to get him was still alive and they were with him now. They had already told him about the deaths of his son C.J. and Colonel Lydecker, both of which had rendered him speechless. Now Ben and the Skeptic were gone, not to mention Kay, which saddened him because Kay had been the one to work on finding him and who was humanity's best chance of survival. She had been one of the few he was the most proud of, the others in that group were Max, Joshua, and Isaac. They had been the ones he was closest to.

The old man privately wondered if he had lost both his children. C.J. was already gone, but what about Ames? Sandeman didn't care if Ames had been about to shoot him, he was still his son. Had he made it out of the explosion? Wondering about that was driving him crazy, just as wondering if there was a chance Kay was alive was driving Brin and Zack crazy.

Brin still felt somehow that Kay was alive. Maybe Kay jumped off on the other side of the building and they just didn't see her, but like Zack said, that still didn't explain why she hadn't come back to the van or why he couldn't find her when he searched. The only thing he mentioned finding were the bodies of some unknown Familiars. Now Brin wished she had gone and looked with him, she was sure she would have seen something of importance. She looked at the old man sitting in the back with all the hate that her eyes could show. If it wasn't for him, her life wouldn't have been ruined. She was a freak, Max was now the main focus of the Conclave's rampage against transgenics, his son had killed her best friend, and now Kay was gone just because she'd wanted to find him. This wasn't even including the heat cycles that were the source of her humiliation. If only Kay was here, she could always make things better in her strange little way.

* * *

Ames White walked back out of the bathroom of the old, rundown hotel he was staying in, trying to clean the open wound in his stomach. He was aware he had lost a lot of blood, but it didn't have much of an effect on him other than slowing him down a little. He had already thrown out the bloodied shirt he'd been wearing and was walking around shirtless, not the least bit embarrassed about it seeing as how his guest was unconscious. He looked down at the redheaded girl he had tied to one of the twin beds, finding it hard to believe that she was a freak. He hadn't even recognized her when he'd seen her at Manticore, he was used to her long, blonde hair, not the curly, shoulder-length red hair she had now. It was one of the things he hated about her, her ability to blend in and pretend to be normal. The people that had sold her the dye probably hadn't known they were dealing with something that wasn't even human. 

X5-358 had always been a problem for him, just like X5-452. In the beginning, he hadn't given them any human traits in his mind because of the numbers, those helped him remember that he was working with abominations to his people. It wasn't until he had met them face to face that he started thinking of them as something more. These two X5s were the only two he had met that had such blatant personalities, showing them off despite the danger they were in. 452 had taken his son, while 358 had hid his wife. It disgusted him when he thought of the possibility of his wife being friends with her, but he knew it was true. He could still hear 358's words clearly in his head from the rooftop. _"You might think it's okay to kill your partner, but don't go off killing someone else's!"_ Somehow she had known that he'd killed Wendy. He wasn't sure how, but she knew.

Ames stepped back into the bathroom and looked back in the mirror so he could clean his wound easier. It was still bleeding strongly, but not as bad as before. There was only one way for him to get his body to start healing, he'd have to get the bullet out. It hadn't gone all the way through him, so it was somewhere still in his body. He tried to get his own fingers in to get it out, but they were too large. He hated the thought of going to a hospital and leaving the X5 here on her own, but he had taken measures to make sure she couldn't get away. He took his coat and threw it on over his shirtless top, making sure to check how secure 358's arms were before he left.

Kay vaguely heard the door slam. She had felt someone moving around her arms, but she wasn't yet awake enough to open her eyes. She felt as though she could sleep forever, but a certain pain in her back made her suddenly feel otherwise. God, her back felt awful. She tried to think back to what had happened, but it was all a blur to her. She remembered going to Manticore to meet Sandeman, and she remembered talking to him, but she didn't remember anything beyond that. It would probably come back to her though. She finally forced her eyelids open, only to see a room she didn't recognize in the least. It took her a few moments to realize she was laying on a bed, and it took a few more for her to notice that she was strapped to it. It was only by her arms though.

How simple. Kay tried to pull her arms free, but suddenly it felt like those handcuffs on her wrists were made of solid rock. She couldn't pull free or break the chain no matter how hard she tried. _Have I become that weak? What the hell happened? _She let thoughts of her conversation with Sandeman run through her head, hoping it would just continue like a movie and go on from there. She heard him telling her that she was part Familiar, Thula's little sister. There was also something about Max being the second part of the cure, but she couldn't remember it all that clearly, then something about the family of the anti-key. Why couldn't she remember the rest? Did he go on to explain about the family, or did the conversation just stop at that point? She doubted he would have left it there, but seeing as how she couldn't think past that moment, there was no other explanation until she remembered more.

Kay looked down at her body. She distinctly smelled smoke on herself, but she didn't appear to be hurt. It wasn't until she rolled a little in her spot that the pain shot down her back again. _Was my back burned? _She looked up at her arms again, trying to pull them free of the handcuffs, when she noticed something different. _Where's my bracelet? _She remembered being so happy when she got that little friendship bracelet, how could she have lost it?

Suddenly, memory flashes nearly took her over, hitting her hard and fast. She could see the Skeptic shooting, trying to hold off the Familiars coming in through the window. Then she was going down the hall with Sandeman and Ben behind her. She remembered running into Zack and Brin in the hall, then Zack jumping out a window, ready to catch Sandeman. When she heard the gunshot behind her, she felt the shock all over again as she looked back and saw Ben on the ground with a gunshot wound. The flashes started becoming more picturesque as she handed her weapons to Ben. She would just see a quick flash of something, but it wasn't in motion. As the pictures started coming faster, it was like watching a horrible slide show. Ben dying, Kay running after White, fighting him on the roof, hearing Zack shout "You've only got three minutes!", fighting again, then trying to jump off and having the building explode. It was there that the memories stopped.

Kay had fresh tears on her face, the only tears she'd cried since Ben's death. She turned her face to dry it off on her sleeve, then looked over at the other bed. It was empty, but there were some weapons sitting there. She saw the gun, a couple knives, and other things that could easily be hid against the body and in clothing. She was completely confused now, who was here? She twisted her body so it was facing the bed, then took a better look. There was nothing that really gave her a clue, just a bunch of weapons. One of the knives was hers, she had had it in her pocket while in Manticore. Everything else was strange to her. She rolled back onto her back, wincing in pain as the burns on her back screamed out in protest. Her mind became pleasantly blank as she curled back up and went to sleep, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Just the force of the memories and trying to see what was on the other bed had worn her already tired body out.

* * *

Alec was bored out of his mind. He'd basically had the job today of babysitting Sketchy and OC while they were sick. This job was passed off between different people, but today was his day. This was one of their worse days too, he'd never seen them look like this. Logan was with Max, but even he was starting to show signs of sickness. Alec was pretty sure he'd need a wheelchair again fairly soon, just because he'd be that weak. 

There was no action outside, so little that it was depressing. People had stopped even coming near Terminal City, and the troops weren't doing anything other than watching quietly. Alec had easily picked out every soldier within his sight distance, they weren't that good at hiding no matter what their training might be. His eyes were scanning the surrounding buildings again when he noticed someone new. There was a young woman on top of one of the buildings, watching him intently. If he hadn't been so surprised, he probably would have appreciated her looks. She certainly was a beauty, around Max's height with long, dark blonde hair and strangely large blue eyes. It was the eyes that caught him, they seemed to completely take him over. He had no idea who she was, but he suddenly wanted to know. It wasn't just that though, he had the feeling she was a transgenic.

Deciding Sketchy and OC would be fine on their own for a few minutes, Alec headed downstairs to the second floor of this old apartment building. It bugged him to have to come over here today just to watch a couple of sick people, but he didn't have anything else to do. Max would never let him get away with not working. She had been ticking him off more and more lately. First she had used him to separate herself from Logan, putting him smack dab in the middle of all of her relationship problems, then she never let him relax. In the four days they had been held in Terminal City, she'd never eased off. There was always something she'd wanted him to do. _I don't see her doing anything big right now! _Ever since Logan had been trapped with the transgenics and he'd been wearing the gloves, he seemed to forget about Max telling him she was seeing Alec. Alec knew she hadn't told him the truth, but for all the good the lie was doing she may as well.

Max was suddenly even more weary when she looked up and saw Alec in the doorway. "What do you want?"

Alec rolled his eyes at her tone of voice, still slightly relieved that Logan was nowhere in sight. "Sorry, my queen, but there's a newcomer hanging around the castle moat."

Max could have hit him for cracking jokes about something as serious as someone new. "Who is it?"

"How should I know? That's why I came to you."

Max walked over to the window that she tended to avoid, seeing as how it was so bleak outside, and looked around for the new person. It didn't take long to spot her.

"Let's go help her in. I want to know who she is."

"You mean you don't know?"

"She looks somewhat familiar, but I can't place her."

Alec smartly kept his mouth shut as he followed her to the roof of the building. They made sure to stay low, keeping out of the sight of the soldiers. Max peered across the electric fence the army had set up to the building the other woman was on.

"Ok, I figure she can jump across, but she's not going to make it to where we are. She'll have to hit it lower. We'll need someone inside to get her through a window before those assholes can start shooting."

Alec nodded. "I can do that. Which window should I go wait at?"

Max held her hands up just high enough so she knew the other woman could see them, then signaled that she wanted her to jump to this side. The other woman signaled back that she would, then she indicated where she would be going. Alec looked down, saw the right room, and headed downstairs. As soon as he was in, he headed for the window and prepared himself to open it. He would have to work fast. The woman nodded to him, then counted off with her fingers: one...two...three. She pushed off the other building and barely made it to Alec's side, he opened the window as fast as he could just before she reached it, then grabbed her hand, pulled her through, and slammed the windows shut. The soldiers were pulling out their guns, but it was already over. Alec had to work hard to keep the smirk off his face.

That didn't become too hard when he got a good look at her up close. She was positively stunning, and he was a person with high standards. She didn't appear all that interested in him though. She was already headed for the door.

"Where's Max?"

Alec was stunned out of his little trance. "How did you know her name?"

"I just do. Where is she?"

"Right here," Max said as she entered through the door the other woman had nearly reached. Her eyes were now moving over the newcomer, trying desperately to place her. The woman looked hurt by this.

"Don't you recognize me?"

Max met her eyes, her confusion perfectly clear. "No, should I?"

"It's me, Maxie! Jondy!"

Max nearly fell over, and at this Alec did allow himself to smirk. It was like telling a little kid that he was gonna get to live with Santa Clause. Max jumped forward and threw her arms around her sister.

"Where have you been? I've been wanting to see you for ages!" Max was close to tears with excitement. Everything had been going so wrong lately, but now she finally had good news.

"Oh, all over the place. Zack used to keep me moving almost constantly, I was always getting into trouble. Speaking of Zack, where has he been? I've called the contact number several times but he never responds to my messages."

Alec glanced out the window just as Max bit her lip nervously and was about to answer. "Before you say anything, I think you'll want to take a look at this."

Max walked over to him, then gasped when Alec opened the window and Zack crawled inside. The first thing that hit her was that he'd been shot in the arm while hanging outside the window. He was already removing his jacket for a better look at it, and Max pulled her water bottle off her belt. The water in Terminal City wasn't that great, so she had snatched a couple from the ambulance the day they first got locked inside. She kept it with her all the time.

While Zack cleaned his arm, Max started questioning him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you."

"How long have you had your memory back?"

"A few months."

"Where's Kay?"

This was where Zack felt a pang inside. It would kill Max to know she was dead, but at least he could tell her Brin was alive. How would she react to finding out about what had been going on without her? As he was struggling to find the right words, Jondy interrupted.

"Kay? As in, the Kay we knew back at Manticore? X5-358?" Jondy looked completely shocked at this, she still pictured Kay as their enemy even though she knew better about the Nomlies now. Max nodded, smiling at the look on her sister's face.

"Yeah, I've been real tight with her lately. She's been a good friend. I've been waiting to see her though, I don't know where she is. Hey Zack, do you think she could get her butt up here to see me?" Max asked teasingly.

"No."

"What?"

"No. She can't come see you, not now, not ever again."

Max put her hands on her hips. "If you're going to start the same crap you did a year ago, it won't do you any good. The world already knows about X5s, and her name would be in there even though they think she's dead."

"She _is _dead, Max."

"Oh please, you know better than that. I know for a fact she came back to the farm after she supposedly died."

"That's true, she did. It's not what I'm talking about." Zack hesitated, unsure of how to keep going with this. He wanted to keep Sandeman a secret for now. Still, no matter how he did it, it was going to kill Max. "I suppose I should tell you that Brin is alive."

Max's eyes widened. "Brin? She's okay? She's herself?"

He nodded, still trying to work out how to go on. "Yeah, she's fine. Kay and Ben came across her and Lydecker a while back."

Max now finally sat down, that last piece of information hitting her harder than anything else. Alec had a tiny smile on his face, knowing how it would make her happy to find out about Ben. He could still clearly remember her pain when she told him that she'd killed her brother. Zack could see the look on Alec's face, knowing it would come as a shock to him too that Ben was gone. He hadn't really meant to say his name, it just came out. Now he would have no choice but to tell her.

"Ben's alive? And Lydecker?"

"No, they're not."

"But you just said..."

"I know what I just said, so I'm going to have to explain myself a little better. Now, I don't want you to interrupt me until the end, you got that?" He waited for her nod before continuing with the story. "Kay found Ben a while back. Manticore somehow used a machine to keep his blood pumping until it fixed his nerve damage. He had a hard time getting used to Kay, he at first wanted to kill her. She won him over when she got him away from White, then they ran into Brin and Lydecker. Brin wasn't herself at first, she was still the soldier that Manticore turned her into. Brin and Wendy became close, so you can imagine how it killed her when she died. I know you may not like the idea, but Kay and Ben became romantically involved. You actually saw him at the hospital when Kay had that fever. The reason she took off so suddenly was because Ben overheard her tell you about her first heat cycle, and she knew Ben would kill Lydecker for it."

Now he had to start the lies. "When we heard about what was going on here, we decided it was time to come up and let you know everything. We were staying in a motel when we were discovered by White and some other Familiars. Brin and I made it out fine, but Kay, Ben, and Lydecker didn't make it. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but at least there's one piece of good news. I'm not sure, but I think Kay managed to kill White before she died. He was the one who shot Ben, so she pretty much lost it."

Max sat there in shock. Jondy was listening to this, not understanding most of it but still horrified at the idea of it all. Alec turned and walked out of the room before he could say anything he'd regret. He wanted to punch Zack, perhaps kill him for not protecting them. Wasn't he supposed to be that great protector? Wasn't he responsible for the others? True, he hadn't cared much for either Ben or Lydecker, but Kay? She had been a good person, one of the few female friends he had because of the fact that she showed no interest in him.

Max was still too stunned to speak, she simply stared at the wall, struggling not to cry. She had done far too much of that lately and was sick of it. She wanted to be strong, not turn into an emotional wreck.

Jondy saw that Alec had left and went after him. "Who are you anyways?"

Alec, not liking the interruption, turned on her fiercely. "None of your damn business. I don't even know you."

"That's not fair, if you're in a bad mood you shouldn't take it out on someone who's just concerned!"

"Did I ask for your concern? I don't specifically remember asking. Why don't you go in and comfort Max, she needs someone who will tolerate her being a baby, other than Zack and Logan of course."

Jondy's mouth dropped open, no one had ever insulted her family like that to her face. She clenched her fists, doing her best not to punch him, then turned and went back into the room with Max and Zack.

Alec couldn't have cared less that she was angry. He didn't know her, so it wasn't like it was his responsibility to keep her happy. He finally stormed back upstairs to go back to babysitting Sketchy and Original Cindy.

* * *

Gingerly touching the bandage covering his stomach, Ames White managed to squeeze through the small opening that stood as the back way in to a pharmacy. The priestess had told him that what he needed would be here, he just hoped she was right. From the outside, this place looked perfectly normal. He moved forward through what he thought was an empty room, then just barely managed to hide the tiny jump he made when he heard the voice cut through the silence. 

"Fen'os tol."

He turned his head toward the voice. "Fen'os tol. Do you have it?"

A woman in her late thirties walked out of the blackness, looking every bit the Familiar she was. Her body was thicker than most women's due to her muscle, and her eyes held the same cold look that always lurked in the back of a Familiar's eyes. She reached into the purse at her side and pulled out a tiny case, took a peek inside it, then held it out to him. Ames took it, trying not to let the pain show on his face when he did so. The muscles around his stomach had started screaming at the slightest bit of use. He opened the case, his eyes lighting up at the ten full syringes that were before his eyes.

"Was it what you wanted?"

Ames smiled and took one of the syringes out to examine it. "Yes, this is exactly what I wanted, however, I doubt 358 will share my feelings."


	2. Friends Can Be Made Or Lost

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 2: Friends Can Be Made Or Lost

Brin sat in the main room of the hotel room she was staying in. Thankfully, Zack and Sandeman were sharing another room, so she didn't have to put up with the old man. Sandeman had wanted to go back to his old house in Seattle, but Zack had forbid it. There was too much chance of someone waiting for them there. Brin just wanted to be alone more than anything, she could deal with her feelings better that way. When Zack had said he was going to Terminal City to talk to Max, Brin had declined his offer for her to come along. She didn't want to see the look on her sister's face when she found out more of her family was dead.

At the moment, Brin was drinking another beer. She wasn't sure how many she'd had so far, but it wasn't enough to get her drunk. It took a lot to get an X5 drunk, but right now she was determined to do it. Maybe it would make her feel better. She was starting to show a few signs of being tipsy when Zack returned. He had come to make sure she was okay, knowing that he probably wouldn't like what he saw. That was most certainly true now.

Brin hadn't even noticed him come in, so she was more than surprised when he pulled her beer can out of her hand. Looking up into his face, she could tell he was angry. "Is this what you do to get rid of pain? Try to drown it?"

She shrugged and reached for the can again, rolling her eyes when he moved it out of her reach. "As a matter of fact, yes, and I'm not done yet. Gimme the beer."

At hearing the slight slur of Brin's words, Zack walked to the sink and poured the rest of the beer down the drain. She must have been drinking for a while before he got back for her to start to _sound_ like she'd been drinking. "Brin, I want you to take a nap or something, anything that will make the effects of the alcohol go away. After you're yourself again, I'm taking you to see Max. I know you'd rather go through everything alone, but you shouldn't and Max is feeling the same way you are. She's either going to lock herself into a room by herself or she'll run to Logan, and I don't like either of those choices. At least this way you can both figure out a way to get over it together."

"I don't want to get over it together, I don't want to get over it at all. Why would I want to forget them?" Zack sighed and sat down next to her on the lumpy thing that passed for a sofa in this place. "I never said I wanted you to forget them, that's not what I want at all. I just want you to get past the pain enough to move on with your life. You're a young woman, you've got a lot of years ahead of you. Do you really want to spend them all missing your family?"

Brin's shoulders slumped in response. "Not really, but I don't know if I can think of them without missing them. There's no way for me to get around that."

Zack hesitated for a moment, then tentatively put an arm around her shoulders. "For a while there won't be, but someday you'll remember the better things and you'll be able to smile when you think of them rather than just feel sad. It's kind of like when we first ran away from Manticore. I had a hard time looking back on my memories of the others that didn't make it out, but later and even now I can remember the better times. Not that there were very good times at Manticore, but there were some nice times when the adults were gone that I can still smile about even though I know that now the vast majority of them aren't around anymore. It'll be the same with this. We'll feel bad for a while, then we'll move on and we'll be able to put the bad stuff behind us."

Brin was mildly impressed, Zack wasn't usually the one to make speeches like that. In fact, it was very rare that he ever let his emotions show. It surprised her even more when she turned to look at him and realized he was trying to blink back tears. He didn't look like he was going to start bawling or anything, but his eyes were damp. She reached her hand up to give a gentle squeeze to the arm that rested around her shoulders, then just left her hand sitting there, perfectly content as they sat there like that until the sun finally set on that awful first day without part of their family.

* * *

Max wished she could have someone to hold her hand. Holding hands with Logan through a glove just didn't comfort her enough. Her only relief was that Zack had promised to bring Brin the next day and they'd get Sketchy, OC, and Logan out of this place. Cindy normally would have been her other source of comfort, but Cindy just wasn't feeling up to a whining friend right now. Max knew she'd give it her best shot, but she didn't want to endanger her friend's health any more than it already was. Alec had locked himself up in his new apartment, refusing to come out for anyone. Somehow, he had made Jondy mad, so she wasn't talking to anyone. Logan was even starting to show more serious signs of illness, so there was no point working him up by telling him about Kay. He had been friends with her too, and had even seen her more often than Max did. 

Max was laying on her bed, curled up into a fetal position, struggling to fight off her tears. All that crap about people being their own best friend was definitely not true, she didn't have the ability to comfort herself. She only moved when someone knocked on the door, but even then she wasn't in a hurry to reach it. In fact, she took so long getting there that she hoped the person outside had already left, but no such luck. Still, she had to force a tiny smile on her face when she saw Joshua waiting patiently in the hall.

"Hey big fella, what's up?" Max tried in vain to sound cheerful, but she knew it wouldn't fool him.

"Not you, little fella," Joshua said softly. Now the little smile on Max's face was real, he always had a quaint way of putting things. She stepped to the side to let him in, then shut the door, following him slowly to the small dining room table. Her cup of coffee from early that morning was sitting there, it almost made her cry to think that just this morning she had been wondering why Kay hadn't shown up to help her when she had actually already been dead a few hours.

Joshua noticed her reaction to the coffee cup and quickly set it onto the counter and out of Max's line of sight. It still didn't change the look on her face. Joshua felt bad, he had liked Kay. He could still remember taking her to Max to save her from the fever, and even before that when she had lived with him while hiding from White. She had been fun, and her spirit couldn't be held down. Even that fever couldn't get rid of her. It only made his rage for White worse to think that he'd killed another good person in Joshua's life.

Joshua snapped himself out of his thoughts and put his arms around Max's tiny body. It was tiny for him, anyway. Max nearly disappeared against his chest as he held her. It felt so good just for someone to hold her. Joshua wasn't nearly as comforting as Logan would be, but at the moment having someone there felt better than anything else.

* * *

Jondy sat on top of one of the buildings in the center of Terminal City. This was the only place where the guns on the perimeter couldn't shoot at, it was too far for them and it was nearly impossible to see someone there even if you did have a gun that could shoot that far. She wasn't really affected by Kay's death, and Lydecker's death came as a relief to her, but Ben was a different story. She had always felt close to him as a child because he had told his stories to her and Max when they couldn't sleep. He and Zack had been the two to make their childhood bearable, Zack being the one everyone could turn to for help and Ben being the one who could explain things so well and make you feel better. He had been the one she had wanted to see most after the escape, and she had driven Zack nuts with her begging. He finally let her see Ben when she was fifteen. Jondy had never been more excited, and seeing Ben's sweet blue eyes had lifted her spirits more than anything else could. 

Her life after the escape hadn't been that easy. When she had first gotten out, she had hitch-hiked with a group of rather strange people. They had an obsession with ghosts, voodoo, and for some reason, vampires. The first couple nights Jondy's sheer exhaustion helped her to sleep normally, but when they started telling her stories about the greatest vampires and about vampire movies they'd seen, her sleep nearly stopped completely. Her nightmares were made ten times worse, her mind put vampires under the same category as Nomlies. When she stopped the normal pattern of sleep, the people started to believe that maybe she was a vampire. They kept making her go out in the sunlight and they made her eat plain garlic once. That had been disgusting, but Jondy had done it just to prove she was a normal kid. Somehow, being thought of as a vampire was worse than being thought of as a genetically-engineered lab rat.

The turning point had come when one of them snuck up behind her to see her reaction. Her Manticore training still fresh in her head, Jondy had flipped him onto the ground with ease and was dangerously close to snapping his neck when she realized who he was. She had been the first one Zack had to save out of all the escapees when her little outburst convinced her guardians that she truly was a vampire. By the time Zack showed up to get her, Jondy had suffered the worst two days of her life.

It was because of her that Zack was able to escape. Manticore had heard the rumors about a vampire in Casper, Wyoming, so they headed down there with Zack in tow. Zack had convinced them that he was fully under their control again, and they decided they would need him to lure Jondy out. Of course, they hadn't known at the time that it was Jondy, just that one of the X5s had screwed with the wrong people. Zack also convinced Lydecker to let him go in after Jondy on his own, reasoning that she wouldn't come out if she knew it was Manticore waiting for her. Seeing his logic and believing he was in control, Lydecker let Zack do what he wanted. As soon as Zack got Jondy out of there, they took off. That was the last time Lydecker ever made the mistake of trusting an X5. After Zack had set her up with a place to live, he'd gone after the others. Manticore had found out where they all were and had shared this information with him, knowing he would need to know it if he was to get them back. After he was free, Zack went after them all and relocated them before Manticore could get to them. After that, he was their protector, always saving them from Manticore.

He couldn't always save them from everything else, however. Jondy went from one bad foster home to the next, being completely ignored and sometimes beaten. She was an outcast from kids in the schools she went to, and when her heat cycles started she was also known as a slut. It wasn't until after a couple years of heat cycles that she saw Zack again, and she had never been more relieved when she found out she didn't have some sort of defect. It was when he found out that the boys in the area had started to predict her heat cycles and showed up at her place when she was in heat that he took her far away from there. She'd lived with him for a short time, begging every five minutes for him to let her see Ben. She missed her other close big brother and she refused to let Zack forget it. After a few weeks, he finally agreed. When Ben had first looked at her and recognized her, his face had lit up as only his could and he'd pulled her into the sweetest hug she'd ever received. She had begged Zack to let her stay with Ben, he'd be able to take care of her, but Zack forbid it. He relocated them far away from each other, then moved on by himself to check on the others.

Jondy wished she had stayed with Ben. She knew they would have become close, maybe even fall in love, but Zack wouldn't allow it. It hurt her more than ever now to find out that Ben was dead, and even worse, that he had fallen in love with Kay before he died. Why her, of all people? He had hated her, and as Zack said himself, even wanted to kill her. What had made her so special that not only had Ben gotten together with her, but Zack had allowed them to be close? The only thing that came to mind was that maybe Zack had felt something for her too. That thought disgusted her nearly as much as the thought of Ben and Kay. Zack had hated her just as much, if not more than Ben had.

Jondy was still pondering this when she heard footsteps behind her, then a groan.

"What are you doing up here?"

Jondy turned her head to see Alec standing there, looking less than pleased to see her. "I wanted to think, is there something wrong with that?"

"Well, maybe the fact that this is where I live. What are you doing on my apartment building? There are plenty of others in this area that you could have sat on."

Jondy stood up to face him directly, not bothering to hide how annoyed she was by his selfishness. "I didn't know you lived here, and besides, it's not _your _building, you just happen to live in it with some others. Don't flatter yourself into thinking that my first priority was to find out where you live so I could avoid it. I have other things to think about."

"You mean like how jealous you are of a dead person?"

Jondy was completely taken aback. "What?"

"You're jealous of Kay, I could see it in your eyes. The look on your face when Zack said Ben and Kay were together wasn't exactly nice. Did you have something going on with Ben?"

"That's none of your business."

"I'll take that as a no, but you wish you did."

"How do you get that out of 'none of your business'?"

"I learned to read between the lines."

"Yeah, well read between these lines." Jondy held up three fingers: her pointer, her middle finger, and her ring finger. Alec rolled his eyes.

"That's mature. No wonder Ben picked Kay over you. I certainly would have if I were in his shoes."

That was when Jondy allowed herself to lose a little control and slapped him. It didn't have as much of an effect on him as she would have liked, but it made her feel a little better. "What was so damn special about her anyways? Were you with her too?"

Alec's eyes flashed dangerously, making Jondy a little nervous. She had never seen Ben angry, and seeing his clone angry wouldn't be much different. "For your information, I wasn't with Kay because she was devoted to Ben. I wouldn't have been able to get with her if I tried just because of how she felt about him. You wouldn't have been able to get together with him either because he was as close to her as she was to him. Besides, we would have gotten our asses kicked if we'd tried. There's no point torturing yourself about it because it's never gonna happen, and I don't need you disrespecting the memory of a very good friend of mine. Kay was a good person, no matter what your childish beliefs are. If even Ben could see that, you should be able to as well."

Jondy made the smart choice in not replying to him as he turned and headed back downstairs. She had replies running through her head, but his last remark had stopped them from coming out. That was true, if Ben could see what kind of person Kay really was, she should be able to as well. There was no point though, Kay was gone and that was that. Personally, that fact didn't bother Jondy in the least.

* * *

Kay stirred slightly when she heard the door open and shut. Her memories were still clear in her head this time, and she knew whoever had just come in had to be the person who had tied her up. She tried to appear asleep while peeking to see who was there, but was saved the trouble when she was shaken hard by her shoulders. 

"Wake up, you're not that pathetically weak."

Kay's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice. She didn't even get the chance to see what was happening before a needle plunged into her arm. The syringe was already empty by the time she realized what was being done. Ames smiled down at her when he saw that she was fully awake.

"What is that stuff?" Kay asked immediately. Knowing him, it wouldn't be good.

He shrugged and put the empty syringe back into its case. "Just a little something to ensure I don't have to consider you a threat."

Kay saw the other full syringes in the case. If he had been planning to kill her, he wouldn't need the other needles. "How does it ensure that?"

Ames didn't reply, instead he walked over to her and unlocked her handcuffs, letting her loose. He didn't even seem to be phased by what he had just done. Kay sat up and the pain in her back nearly made her scream. Why was he letting her go? He didn't say anything as he walked over to where his suitcase was and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, then walked into the bathroom. Now he was leaving her alone? _Okay, the explosion drove that man crazy. Why is he making it so easy for me to get out of here? _She eased herself to her feet, biting down hard on her bottom lip to keep from making the squeak of pain that threatened to burst out. She moved slowly across the room, keeping her mind focused on each step. All her strength had seemed to just disappear. How badly was she hurt?

Kay had just reached the door when Ames came back out of the bathroom. Instead of going to her and pulling her away from the door, he just smirked and watched her. Kay paused before going to turn the doorknob.

"What's going on here?"

"Nothing important, but I have some people set up in the hall. You don't stand a chance against them."

Kay remembered what Sandeman had said about her being the second key, a genetically-engineered key at that. "What makes you think that?"

Ames shrugged and walked over to his coat. "You might have been able to handle them before, but now that I've made sure you're no stronger than a normal woman your age, you don't stand a chance."

So that's what was in those shots. Kay opened the door and peeked out. Sure enough, there were men in the hall. Kay figured they were Familiars, she doubted the government knew anything about this. She shut the door again and turned to face Ames, who had now pulled a bottle out of his coat pocket.

"This is for your back so you don't get infected."

Kay crossed her arms, that was the most comfortable position with her back feeling the way it was. "How am I supposed to get that stuff onto my back? I can't exactly do it myself with how much my back hurts."

He smirked again, this time with amusement in his eyes. "I could always put it on, but why do I get the feeling you won't like that idea?"

"Maybe you were bred for telepathy. There is no way in hell I'm letting you put that stuff on me."

"Have it your way. You'll change your mind soon enough. Want anything to eat?" He pulled out a couple sub sandwiches he had picked up on his way back. Kay was ready to shoot a smartass comment at him when her stomach growled loudly. Ames smiled mockingly and threw one of the sandwiches to her. Kay studied it carefully, he might have done something to it. He saw her examination of the sandwich.

"It's perfectly safe to eat." With that, he bit down into his own.

Kay pulled the plastic off hers and sat back down on the bed she had been tied to. "Why would you bother with this? I'm fairly sure it's not out of the kindness of your heart."

"The Conclave has plans for you. Since I'm pretty sure my father is still out there somewhere, we're going to use you to get to him, maybe 452 as well. But first, I have some questions of my own."

Kay was furious. They were going to use her to get to Sandeman and Max? There was no way she was going to help them with the Coming, she was made to stop it. "I don't care what you need to ask me, I'm not helping you in any way. You should know enough about me by now to know I wouldn't do anything to betray the other transgenics."

Ames's eyes grew colder, losing the amusement that had been in them earlier. "What you choose to do about what the Conclave wants is your business, I don't care if you become dispensable at that point. My concern lies with what you have to say about _my_ question."

"Ask if you must, but don't get your hopes up about an answer."

Ames set down his sandwich and was at her side in an instant, gripping her throat tightly in one hand as he slammed her down onto the bed. "I expect an answer from you if you care to live to even have the choice of whether or not to help the Conclave. Where is my son? 452 may have been the one to take him, but I'm sure you know what happened to him too."

Kay grabbed the hand on her throat and dug her nails in until he got the point and loosened his grip. There was no way she was going to tell him the truth. The Coming would be postponed if they believed Ray wasn't alive. "You should know the answer already. Didn't he look a little too limp when you saw 452 carrying him outside that school? He was dead before she even got him out of your sight. I would count it as a blessing for him. Who knows how he would have turned out with _you _raising him!"

After hearing this, Kay thought she saw something in his eyes like pain, then Ames pulled back a fist and hit her. She felt the pain in her cheek right away, he had cracked her cheekbone. Without even saying anything to her, he was off the bed and out the door. Kay lay there for several minutes, then sat back up and resumed eating her sub. She looked out at the setting sun and realized it had been nearly a full day since she had lost Ben. What would he do if he was here with her? She had absolutely no idea. If only he really was here with her, at least things wouldn't look so bad. With White drugging her and keeping her strength down, she really couldn't fight her way out. That was when she remembered something Ben had said whenever she felt like things weren't going the right way. _Something will happen to make things better as long as you don't give up. _Well, just for his memory, she would take his advice.


	3. Keep Your Friends Close And Your Enemies...

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 3: Keep Your Friends Close And Your Enemies Closer

Logan was sitting in the room Joshua had agreed to share with him as long as he was here. In spite of the fact that it was a hot day for Seattle, he couldn't stop shaking. He wobbled on his feet whenever he walked and it took all his effort just to cross the room. He knew the atmosphere in Terminal City was starting to take its toll on him, but he had hoped it wouldn't start in so fast because of Joshua's blood in him. At least he hadn't lost the ability to walk on his own, but because of his new weakness he still used the exoskeleton. He just hoped that as soon as he recovered once he was out of here that his legs would regain their strength.

Logan had sensed all day that something was wrong with Max, but she refused to talk to him. He couldn't understand why she'd be upset, he'd already heard the news that Jondy was here. He had figured she would be delighted about that, yet she was acting anything but delighted. There was something she was keeping from him, but why wouldn't she tell him? His first guess was that she was too concerned about his health to worry him with it, but then that annoying little voice in the back of his head spoke up. It was the voice he associated with his family, even when they weren't there it would pipe up and say something negative about whatever he was planning on doing, and it was usually something his family would have said if they knew. What it kept telling him now was that Max didn't want his help, that she was getting comfort from somewhere else. Of course, she had told him that she was seeing Alec, but he hadn't seen Alec around today. Still, that little voice kept telling him that Max had moved on and didn't need him any more. That hurt him more than anything, but as long as he didn't know for sure, he was going to give Max the benefit of the doubt.

When he heard a knock at the door, he prayed for it to be Max. He went as fast as his failing health would allow, then nearly collapsed when he opened the door. What was Zack doing here? Zack allowed himself a smile when he saw the look on Logan's face.

"Do you think I'm here to kill you, Wonder Boy?"

Logan forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down, Zack seemed to hate him no more than usual. "That was my first assumption, seeing as how that's what you were set on doing last time."

"I have better things to do with my time than bother with you."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Max wants me to get you and the other two out of Terminal City before you get too sick, but if you want to stay, I won't hold you back."

"I'm sure that's true. Are you doing this alone? I doubt it, no matter how good you are this is one thing you couldn't pull off on your own."

Zack's jaw clenched visibly, but other than that he didn't show any other signs of being affected. "Brin is here with me."

Logan was immediately curious, but he knew he wasn't going to get any good answers out of Zack. He would wait till later, then call Max on the video screen. Maybe once he was out of here Max would tell him what was going on. "When do we leave?"

"Now."

* * *

Brin walked down the hallway towards where she had been told Max's room was. She was finally starting to get excited, she couldn't wait to see her sister again. She hadn't really gotten the chance to get to know Max after the escape, the only times she'd seen her was when she was sick and when she was fighting on the side of Manticore. Now they would get their chance to catch up on each other's lives. 

When Max answered the door and saw Brin's face, the two just stared at each other. For almost an entire minute they didn't do anything but stare, then a wide smile spread over Max's face and she jumped forward and hugged her sister. Brin wrapped her arms around Max's slender frame tightly, not wanting to let go. This was the best cure for sadness, getting together with family.

Max had hesitated when she first saw Brin because she wanted to make sure it was really her, not the soldier Manticore had turned her into. When she had gotten a good look at her sister's warm eyes, she knew for sure she had the real Brin back.

When they stepped back, Brin broke the silence. "Well, are you going to invite me in or do I have to stand out here in this breezy hall all day?"

Max blushed and stepped out of the doorway to let Brin through. "How have you been? You don't have that Progeria problem anymore, do you?"

"No, Manticore pretty much took care of that. The only downside is that they couldn't get rid of my heat cycles because it would risk a relapse."

"Well, you can't get into too much trouble with that. How many have you had since getting out of Manticore?"

"Three. One was right after I got out, I wound up sleeping with my landlord. My next one was when I was taking care of Lydecker after I found him, with that one I left him alone a few days and slept with some guy who picked me up thinking I was a hitch-hiker. Then, with my last one, Kay had to find a way to take care of me since I was hurting myself."

"Who did she give you to? I'm assuming that's what she did, right?"

"Yeah. Actually, she gave me to Zack."

Max's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Zack? That couldn't have been a very good situation once you were out of heat. Let me guess, he thought you would never respect him again and you felt like a slut for sleeping with the leader?"

"Something to that effect. Kay and Ben convinced us to work it out, so we're okay now. Do you really think I would have come here with him if I was uncomfortable?"

"I suppose not. Where is Zack right now?"

Brin rolled her eyes. "Messing with Logan's head."

"What! He's with Logan? I gotta get over there!"

Brin grabbed Max's arm as she started to run out the door. "Relax, he's not planning on killing Logan, I warned him about that. He might let Logan believe he's about to die, but he won't really do it."

"How sure are you about that?"

"Pretty sure."

* * *

Logan followed along quietly behind Zack as they headed for Sketchy and Original Cindy's room. The X5 hadn't said another word to him, which was just fine with Logan. All he wanted was to get out of here so that maybe Max would tell him what was wrong. Zack wasn't going to let him find out like that though. 

"I would think you'd be more upset. After all, she told me you were friends."

Logan was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about?"

Zack stopped walking and turned to face Logan, who was rather relieved to give his legs a rest. "I'm talking about Kay. She said she was friends with you, so I would think you'd be more sad about the fact that she died."

"What?"

Zack crossed his arms, watching everything on the other man's face. "You heard me. Kay died a couple days ago, how is it you're not upset about that?"

Logan kept his face as calm as possible, he could see Zack was waiting for him to weaken. "I wasn't told."

Zack smiled coldly at this. "Oh, I see. So Max didn't feel the need to tell you? Well, that is certainly understandable. After all, you are pretty weak right now."

Logan felt a chill as the X5's eyes lowered to his legs, which he was trying to keep from trembling. "I could have handled the news, as you can see."

Zack was slightly impressed inside, he considered it a strength to be able to hide emotions. He would never let Logan know that though. "Let's get going. I don't want to be in your company any longer than I have to."

* * *

Kay stood in the shower, shivering under the cold spray. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in here, maybe a half hour or so, but hell, it wasn't her bill. The thing she was going for was relief on her back. Perhaps an hour after Ames left, her back had started burning in such a fierce way that she choked back screams. It felt like the burn was fresh rather than a couple days old. She had spent that night trying to get comfortable, but her back wouldn't allow that. It wasn't until this morning that she discovered how good a cold shower felt. If she could, she would have jumped into a pool of ice cubes. Despite the fact that the cold water felt so good, it was horrible to get back out of. She had stayed in it a few minutes and then tried to get out, but her back started hurting worse than before, so she jumped back in the shower and stayed there. She remembered the cream White had left for her, but the muscles in her back would never allow her to twist herself into a position to apply it to herself. 

The hotel room door slamming was what snapped her out of a practically standing sleep. She could hear White's swinging strides as he walked across the room and opened the bathroom door. Luckily, he couldn't see through the shower curtain. Kay poked her head out the side of the curtain.

"Do you mind?"

His eyes coldly rested on her, then he walked back out. Kay felt a chill go down her back that she knew wasn't due to the cold water. He had absolutely no emotion in his eyes, it was like staring into the eyes of a dead man. Her cheek throbbed where he had hit it, but it was nothing compared to her back. It wasn't even that bad, the purple wasn't there anymore and the swelling had gone down considerably. The only reminder of it was the dull throbbing. It was more than enough to remind her of the look in his eyes just before he hit her. It was a mixture of disbelief, anger at her for telling him his son was dead, and pain about his son. It wasn't a look she ever wanted to see again, but this look was worse. It was as though since last night he had cut himself off, threw away whatever feelings he had left inside him. That was bad news for her, it might make life miserable for her.

Kay finally convinced herself to turn off the water and get out of the shower. She carefully put a robe from the hotel on, gingerly laying it over her back. The burning sensation was back full force now, but she had an overwhelming feeling that she needed to talk to Ames before he became unreachable. She didn't need him to become completely cruel, after all, she was at his mercy.

When Kay walked out into the main area of the hotel room, Ames was sitting on his bed while removing his shoes. Kay had no urge to sneak up behind him, she wouldn't be able to handle it if he managed to get in a good hit at her. She walked to her own bed and sat down, trying not to wince at the pain that shot through her. His back was to her, so she didn't have to look at his cold eyes again. Kay lay down on her bed, so chilled from her shower that she was more than ready to sleep with the robe on.

"How well did you know her?" White's voice nearly scared Kay out of her skin.

"Who?"

"Wendy."

Kay was truly surprised, she had at first thought he was talking about Max. "I knew her pretty well. We lived in the same house." She didn't see any point in lying to him, maybe it would make him feel worse about killing her. She saw his body tense. Good, she knew that bit of information would have an effect.

"You lived together?"

"Yep. I've heard all the details of her childhood, your wedding, and pretty much all about her life as a mother and wife. You'd be surprised at some of the things I know."

He didn't say anything to that, he just sighed and finished pulling off his shoes. Kay made no sound as he undressed himself and pulled on a pair of sweatpants to sleep in, the room was a bit cold. It wasn't until he lay down that Kay worked up the courage to ask him something she knew he would react to.

"Did you even care about her?"

Now he rolled over on his bed so he could look her in the eyes. "Of course I did. You can't live with someone for so many years and not care about them."

Kay smirked. "I lived with the other transgenics in Manticore my entire life, and you don't see me being wildly in love with them."

"What about the one that I shot? The one that looked like 494?"

Kay clenched her jaw, then struggled to keep her voice steady. "I didn't spend my entire life around him, just the first ten and then a few months recently." She knew he was looking for a nerve to crunch, so she made sure not to give too much away. She could feel his eyes on her face, looking for a change of expression.

"I take it Wendy was around him too?"

"Every transgenic you saw that night was around her. We all lived in the same place."

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I killed her?"

Kay hated how emotionless he sounded about that. "You're the only person who would ever dare to hurt her." Now she could feel the anger radiating from the other bed, but she refused to look at him.

"I didn't want to. I had to."

"That's just an excuse so you can protect your world-class ego."

"No, it's not. The Conclave ordered me to get rid of her because she knew too much. I would never have done it otherwise."

Now Kay turned to look at him. "So you would rather kill someone you _claim_ to love than disobey a bunch of people who don't give a damn about you? You and your kind have some serious problems." She felt his anger again, but he didn't comment. Kay turned her face away from him and started to roll over, then barely managed to hold in her scream when the burning came back again. It wasn't ten seconds before she heard footsteps go to the other side of the room, come back, she was flipped onto her stomach, and she felt a large amount of weight come down on her backside. Kay craned her neck so she could look up at White, who was now sitting on her tailbone.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to hear you groan all night about your back, so I'm taking care of it. Take the robe off."

"I don't fucking think so!"

"Well I do fucking think so," he mocked, already reaching up to start removing the top of the robe. Kay pushed his hands away, simply because he let her, then pulled her arms out of the sleeves of the robe. She was laying on her stomach, so it wasn't like he would see anything. He pulled the robe down far enough so he could see the entire burn, then picked up the bottle of cream he had brought over. Kay was more than uncomfortable now, but she decided she may as well just bear with it.

"What happened at Manticore after the explosion, anyways?" she asked as he opened the bottle and squeezed some of the cream out onto his hand.

"I started to jump away from the building just a couple seconds before you did, but it was enough so that I didn't get burned. We were both knocked unconscious when we hit the ground, but I came to pretty shortly afterwards. I knew you would be useful in getting my father, so I carried you out of there. I saw one of the X5s who was with you come through the area looking for you, but I already had you out of sight so he didn't see you. I just brought you here after that."

Kay shivered as the cream touched her back. It felt thousands of times better than the cold shower. The only thing she tried to ignore was the feel of his fingers sliding over her back. All her muscles relaxed pleasantly and she almost could have fallen asleep. That was when she started to feel different.

* * *

Logan had his hands full. Zack was walking with Sketchy down the hall, but Sketchy at least still had some strength left. Logan was left to half carry, half drag Original Cindy down the hall. She had all she could do to keep her eyes open, so it wasn't like she could make it easier on him. The only thing Zack ever did was turn to look at them and smirk. The muscles in Logan's arms and back were shaking and sweat was running down his forehead. It wasn't until they reached Max's room that he got any help from the X5. 

Zack propped Sketchy up against the wall next to Max's door and headed back for Logan and Original Cindy. As much fun as it was to watch the other man struggle, he didn't want Max to know about the little bit of fun he was allowing himself. She would be furious, especially since he was using OC in his fun. He easily scooped the young woman up into his arms and walked back towards Sketchy, leaving Logan to reach the door himself. _I may be helping him get out of here, but there's no way in hell I'm going to carry him out._

Logan rolled his eyes as Zack walked away, it was annoying as hell when Zack made it obvious he was stronger than him. The exoskeleton felt heavy on his legs, but he knew his legs wouldn't support him without its help. He pushed himself as fast as he could go, and just made it to the door when Zack knocked on it. He took a few deep breaths to try and refresh himself, and some of the redness had left his face by the time Max answered the door. She looked relieved to see him, he figured it was the fact that he was near Zack and was still alive. _Hell, I'm relieved about that, too. _Max looked into her brother's face meaningfully.

"There haven't been any problems here, has there?"

Zack's face was blank and in complete soldier mode as he answered. "No, there's been no problems so far. Brin, are you ready?"

Brin stepped into the doorway next to Max. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Zack nodded stiffly. "Okay, let's go."


	4. Moving Home

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 4: Moving Home

Kay slid one hand under the pillow and gripped the sheets in her hand. She didn't want Ames to see her doing this, hopefully he was occupied enough with putting the cream on her back. She had felt it before, but she was feeling it stronger now. She squeezed the sheets as hard as she could, flexing every muscle in her arm. _I knew it! _She should have suspected it sooner, but her back had kept her attention preoccupied. Ames had forgotten to give her another shot.

Right now Kay could have easily flipped him off her back and killed him, but there would have been no point considering the fact that there were several Familiar soldiers positioned in the hallway. She would have been taken down immediately. No, she'd have to come up with a plan of some sort. Her best opportunity would be when they were a good distance away from the other Familiars. When would that be though?

"Is it hurting?"

Kay turned her head to look up at White. "What?"

"You're tense, is the cream hurting?"

Kay realized her hand was still gripping the sheets tightly and quickly relaxed her grip. "Not really, it just feels weird." Well, she wasn't really lying with that one, it _did _feel weird. The cream felt soothing at first, then seemed to make her back numb. That was a definite improvement in her book. The next improvement was when White finally climbed off of her. She immediately pulled up the blankets to her chin and kicked away the rest of the robe, she wasn't so cold anymore. White went back to his bed and lay down. Kay made her breathing become deep, letting him believe she was asleep. When she heard his breathing do the same, she slid out of the bed, picked up the robe and put it on, then crossed the room to White's coat. With her abilities back, she was almost completely silent. Unless he was listening hard, he would never hear her.

The case was easy to find, she felt the hard bulge right away. She opened it up and looked at the syringes. She pulled one out and held it up to the bit of moonlight coming in through the window, the strength-sucking liquid inside was completely clear. This was almost too easy.

Kay shot another careful glance at White, he wasn't moving in the bed and his face was turned away from her. His breathing was deep, but he could have been doing the same thing she had been. She kept herself low and out of his line of vision, then made her way to the bathroom with the case. She squeezed the last bits of the drug out of every syringe, then filled a glass with water and sucked it up to fill the syringes to the point they had been before. When she was done, she was more than satisfied with her work. She had been careful not to leave sloppy fingerprints all over the needles, that would have been a dead giveaway that they had been tampered with.

Kay silently made her way back out to the coat with the newly filled syringes, keeping an eye on White the whole time. She had no doubt that he could get more of these if he needed them. She slid the case back into the pocket it had been, in as close to its original position as possible. When she finished, she took off her robe and slipped back into bed. She would have to wait until morning to find out if her plan worked.

* * *

Max was carrying Original Cindy, Zack was helping along Sketchy, and Brin was walking next to Logan. They were almost to the edge of Terminal City, and Brin was getting herself ready as she walked. She was loading her gun and positioning her ammo to a place where she could reach it easily. Logan helped her a little bit when she needed it, but he needed to keep his focus on walking and Brin knew it. 

The six of them finally reached the area in Terminal City known as Freedom Pass. It was only for people who absolutely had to go out, maybe to get supplies. Right now Gem stood guarding it from inside the nearest building. Freedom Pass was a hole they had cut through the electric fence during the first blackout after they were trapped inside. It was the best place for the opening because directly above it on the other side was an overhang that blocked the view of it from the soldiers above. The only problem was getting to the fence without being seen. That was what Brin was preparing for. Once they reached the building that Gem stood guard in, Max gave two quick knocks to the window beside Gem's head, then another knock after a short pause, then three more. As soon as they saw Gem remove her gun from the window, Brin went inside.

Brin made her way to the roof, being careful that they didn't see her through the windows as she went up. The whole point of this was that they needed to be surprised when they saw her shooting at them, that way Zack could get the three humans through Freedom Pass before any of the soldiers had the sense to look down. As soon as she was on the roof, she pulled out the gun and started shooting. She wasn't aiming to kill, but they didn't know that. The soldiers on the other side reacted almost immediately, firing back at her. Brin could hear the bullets hissing past her head and started moving back and forth so quickly she was hardly more than a blur to them. She felt a bullet graze her arm, but she kept her grip on the gun firm. She could still aim perfectly while she was moving and she didn't want something as minor as a tiny flesh wound causing her to accidentally shoot someone. The only reason it wasn't Max up here was because Max refused to shoot a gun, even if she wasn't aiming to kill. It would have been better if it was Max, because then Brin could have gotten out too. Still, Zack had told her it was probably better for her to relax with her sister for a while. It was what she needed.

When the shooting started, Zack made sure no guards were looking down, then he and Max carried Sketchy and Original Cindy across to the hole. As soon as they dropped their charges on the other side, they came back and Zack grabbed Logan. He was considerably rougher when he dropped Logan on the ground than when he had let go of Sketchy. Logan grunted when he hit the ground, then checked his exoskeleton to make sure the drop hadn't damaged it in any way. When he was satisfied that he was good to go, he climbed to his feet and grabbed Sketchy's arm while Zack picked up OC. They hurried around the corner of the building from the overhang and went about a block to Zack's car, or rather one that he had stolen earlier. Logan helped Sketchy into the front seat, then he climbed into the back where Zack handed off OC to him. Logan felt a nervous pang when he looked down at the young woman, she didn't look good at all.

Max watched as they drove away, feeling more lonely than ever now that three of the people she was closest to were gone. She just hoped they would recover fully and that Logan would call her on the video phone as soon as he could. She leaned back against the wall and waited until Brin came back down.

Brin could see the look on her sister's face and put an arm around her shoulders, instinctively knowing what Max was thinking about. She had thought it in the past during her own troubled times. "He'll call, and don't you worry about any of them, they'll be fine."

Max forced out a smile and nodded, but it didn't stop the pain. She and Brin walked back to her room, and both women jumped when they saw Joshua standing next to the door as they turned the corner. He smiled sheepishly at Max, then looked at Brin questioningly. Max smiled at him to reassure him.

"She's okay, big fella. She's my sister."

Joshua's face split into one of his all-out grins as Brin held out her hand to shake his. He ignored her hand and stepped forward to wrap her in a tight hug. Brin gave out a squeak of surprise as he hugged her tight enough to make it nearly impossible to breathe.

"You're Max's sister, then you're my friend."

Brin awkwardly patted his back and managed to worm her way out of his grasp. Her ribs ached from being held like that, but she could tell by his face that he hadn't meant to hurt her. He was so innocent-looking, it was like staring at a large, dog-like child. She tried not to wince as they walked into Max's room, then allowed herself a tiny grimace of pain when his back was turned. She was relieved that he had at least seemed to not recognize her.

"You have to tell me what you've been up to all these years," Brin insisted. Max had heard quite a bit about her, but Brin didn't know anything about Max.

"Well, you might want to sit down, it's a long story."

* * *

Kay groaned and rolled over when White shook her by the shoulders. "Go away, I'm tired," she grumbled. It had been the first good night's sleep she'd had in a few days since her back wasn't keeping her up. Unfortunately, Ames wasn't planning on going away without her. 

"Get up, we're leaving."

Kay finally rolled onto her back and looked up at him blearily. "Where we goin'?" she asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes and quickly looking down to check that her blankets were still up high enough.

"We're heading for Seattle, we've been here too long."

"Where are we?" In the last couple days, Kay hadn't even bothered to find out where they were. They could have been in Italy for all she knew.

"We're still in Gillette, so I want to get going while it's early."

Kay looked over at the clock. "You woke me up at 5:30 in the morning? You really are an asshole! Getting a recovering girl up at the crack of dawn, would you have gotten your kid up at a time like this?" She didn't even flinch at the last words, although she knew he did. It didn't really bother her because she knew perfectly well Ray was alive. So what if his dad didn't know? The kid was better off with his aunt.

Ames threw some clothes in her direction, they were brand new. "Put these on and let's get moving."

Kay looked at the tags on the clothes. "Did you look on my other clothes to get my size? That is another asshole thing to do! Hell, you even got me new underwear. That's just gross. Will you at least have the decency to give me some privacy while I change?"

He rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom to leave her alone. "For your information, I wasn't the one to go through your things. I left that to one of the guards."

"Oh, that makes me feel _so_ much better!" Kay snapped sarcastically as she pulled on the clothes and kept her eye on the bathroom door. She doubted he would look, but she didn't want to chance it.

"Glad I could help," he quipped back. Kay rolled her eyes and finished pulling on the shirt, which was a black t-shirt stating "I went to Hell and back and all I got was a lousy t-shirt!" _I'm not quite out of hell yet._

"You can come out, I'm decent."

White came back out of the bathroom with a syringe in his hand. Kay hadn't even noticed before that he'd been wearing his coat. _He really must be in a hurry._ Well, now was the time she would find out if her plan had worked. If it had, she would still be at her regular strength. There was always the chance though that he had heard what she was up to and went to get the drugs replaced while she was asleep.

He jabbed the needle into her arm, which she pretended to try and pull away from him. She didn't want him to get suspicious at this point. Her best opportunity to attack him and get away would be while they were traveling. She doubted the other Familiars would be as close as they were now, unless they were all traveling in the same vehicle. Of course, that turned out to be the case.

The car they were riding in barely fit them all in, making it a tight squeeze for Kay who was sitting in the back with the Familiar guards. One of the guards was in the front seat next to White, but the other two were in the back with her. Placed right in between the two men, she wasn't exactly comfortable. Whenever they looked at her it was as though they were staring at something disgusting. She wished she could just punch them and wipe that look off their faces, but she wouldn't do that unless she felt particularly suicidal. _Oh boy, this is going to be a long ride._

* * *

Not bothering to pick up the junk he was walking through, Alec walked through his apartment, heading for the door. He wasn't really a tidy person, and this was the first time he had come through the place with the intention of leaving. Since Jondy had pretty much taken up his favorite thinking spot, he had done his thinking in his home. It wasn't as good as being up high, but a hot bath made it come in a close second. 

Alec never would have believed it if someone told him a year ago that he would lock himself up alone after losing an X5. At Manticore, that was just something you had to deal with. Others got killed, life went on. It was as simple as that. Of course, at Manticore Alec had never bothered to become friends with the other transgenics. There wasn't really an opportunity to make friends with how they were all separated, which was mainly because the people in charge of the operation were afraid of a group revolt like the escape of '09.

When he had gotten out and ran into Max again, Alec allowed himself to make friends and care about them. He let himself become involved in their lives and let them become involved in his. In the beginning, he had been slightly more cautious, but as time went on he couldn't help himself. It was nice to have someone to depend on and be able to count on to help you if you needed it without asking anything in return. Of course, Max would ask but she wouldn't hold it against him. Kay had been someone he was sure would have helped him without asking questions if he ever needed her. It was nice just to know she was there, and she had been more than fun to hang out with. Despite being more careful than he was, she had the same secretly mischievous nature and loved causing trouble just to watch the waves. Even if she didn't do it as faithfully as he did, he liked how her eyes lit up when he caused trouble at the hospital.

Now he felt so sure that letting himself get that close to another person was a mistake. The pain of realizing that that person wasn't there anymore and never would be was almost more than he could bear. He hadn't been taught at Manticore to deal with his emotions, and emotions like these were far beyond his grasp of understanding. If it hurt this much to lose someone he rarely saw, what would it feel like if Max or Joshua died? That would kill him, he was sure it would. It was why he hadn't been out to see anyone, he didn't want to see them. What would happen if they were suddenly taken away from him? It was better to distance himself from them so it wouldn't hurt so much when something happened to them.

Alec stepped out into the hallway for the first time in 36 hours. He wasn't disappointed that there was no one there, he would rather not see anyone right now. He just figured he may as well let everyone know he was alive. If he didn't, Max was likely to come charging through the door. He wandered aimlessly down the hall, not bothering to move out of the way as someone came rushing out their door and ran straight into him.

"Watch where you're moving, dumbass!"

Alec turned to look down into Jondy's eyes. "Hello to you too."

Jondy recognized him instantly and rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's you. Well, you're still a dumbass."

Alec turned away from her and kept on going down the hall. After a moment, he glanced to his side to see that she was walking next to him. "Do you have to follow me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, we just happen to be going in the same direction."

They walked downstairs and out the door, then walked into Max's building. It wasn't until they both reached her door that they turned to face each other.

"Ok, you've got to be following me," they both said simultaneously, then frowned at each other. Alec felt nothing but sour dislike for the lovely, sharp-tongued X5 standing in front of him. She was more of a nuisance than anything.

Jondy felt basically nothing more endearing for the tall, good-looking man in front of her. She felt he was nothing more than an arrogant, self-absorbed child in a grown up body. To think he actually believed she would spend her time following him! If it weren't for the fact that she was more excited about knowing Brin was here, she would have burst out laughing. He sure was full of himself.

Brin was the one who answered the sharp knock Alec gave to the door. Alec rolled his eyes in disgust when the women practically squealed and Jondy brushed him out of the way as she and Brin hugged for the first time in ten years. He crossed his arms at the scene.

"You know, normally my dirty mind would be working overtime right now, but I need to see Max. You don't think there's a possibility I could cut through this little family reunion here and talk to her, do you?"

Alec immediately got nasty looks shot at him by both of them. He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, I'll come back at a more convenient time." He turned and sauntered off down the hall, wondering who he could talk to now. Well, there was always Joshua.

The Rec Center was practically deserted when he reached it, there were only a few transgenics sitting around. Alec spotted Mole and made a beeline for him. At least he was someone who wouldn't want to get started on an emotional discussion. Mole nodded his head briefly to acknowledge Alec's arrival. Alec looked down at the pile of guns Mole was assembling.

"In the past few days, doesn't this add up to about 300 guns? You keep going like this, there'll be enough guns for everyone in Terminal City, except for Max of course."

"Well, that's the plan. I don't care what little miss I-Won't-Hurt-Anyone-Cuz-I'm-Better has to say about this. If we're not out of here by the time I'm done making enough for everyone, I want to break out. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, so I should have no trouble gathering up enough of us to pull it off. Personally, I hope Max gets shot while we're leaving. She would be an okay kid in the outside world, but here with us she just comes off as prissy. By the way, how are you holding up?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I heard something about that girl Kay dying. I met her once a couple months ago. It was because of her that I'm even here, without her White would have taken me apart. She was a good kid and I heard you were pretty close to her. So, how are you holding up?"

Alec was inwardly groaning, Mole was the last person he had expected to ask him about his feelings. "Fine, I guess. We weren't really that close. We were more acquaintances really."

Mole raised an eyebrow, but went back to his work. He had heard that Alec and Kay had been good friends and that really didn't surprise him. He remembered her sense of humor perfectly and it made her someone he could picture Alec getting along with. Leave them alone too long though and their stubbornness and urge to be leader would make them tear each other apart. That was one of the reasons Max and Alec didn't get along all the time.

Alec wasn't surprised when Mole shoved a pile of gun parts in his direction. "As long as you're here, you may as well make yourself useful. I assume you know how to do this?"

Alec rolled his eyes and started assembling a gun. "Yes, I know how to do this. I could have done it with my eyes closed when I was five." He threw himself into putting the guns together, it was better than thinking about anything else.

* * *

The car rolled slowly through the streets of Seattle, Kay's eyes taking in everything that might be able to help her later. She wanted to make sure she knew where she was so that she could get to safety quickly. Everyone had been completely silent during the ride, which was rather unnerving. The quiet was starting to get to her, she wished she could just scream or something to break it. The only positive thing was that her body strength had remained the same. She would be able to get away as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, that didn't look like it would be happening anytime soon. 

Her eyes wandered over the houses on the street they were going down. _Wait a second, we're going down Joshua's old street! I wonder if Logan is out of Terminal City yet. _She hoped he was, maybe there was a signal or something she could give him to let him know she was trapped. She could see the house coming up, but they weren't close enough for her to see if there was a car or anything out in front. As they moved closer, she saw a car parked on the street in front of the house. When they were almost right in front of it, Kay could see the people getting out of it. Sketchy was leaning against the car, Logan was pulling OC out, then she saw Zack. That was perfect!

When the X5s had been young, before Kay had had her run-in with the Nomlie, the X5s had discovered something they could do that the adults couldn't. It was a high-pitched sound in the back of their throats that was somewhat similar to a dog whistle. Only people with really high frequency hearing could hear it, and that was what the X5s had. It was how they called each other out in the woods so the others would come. Manticore hadn't even known about it.

Kay wasn't sure if the Familiars would be able to hear it or not, but she was willing to take her chances. She tightened the muscles in her throat, barely opened her lips, and let the high-pitched whistle out. She could still do it perfectly, despite the fact that she hadn't used it in at least fifteen years. The others in the car didn't react, apparently their hearing wasn't as advanced as the rest of their bodies. She glanced out the window without making it obvious. Zack didn't appear to have heard her, he hadn't reacted at all. Kay's shoulders slumped slightly and she settled back into her seat. Well, so much for that shot.

* * *

Zack kept his eyes on Sketchy as he went to help him into Logan's house, trying not to let on to what he had heard. It had been many years since he had heard that call, but he recognized it immediately. He didn't know who had sent it, but he had seen that car go by out of the corner of his eye. Whoever had called him must have been in there. As soon as it turned onto another road, Zack grabbed Logan's arm. 

"There's something I have to do. Can you get them in just fine?"

Logan was surprised that Zack was asking him for help, or even trusting him enough to leave him alone with his charges. "Yeah, we'll be fine. What's going on?"

Zack didn't even bother to reply, he just jumped back into the car as soon as Sketchy was no longer leaning on it and took off. He didn't care that he nearly ran over OC's leg, this was one of his X5s calling him, they were the only ones that knew that call. Whoever was in trouble, they came first in his mind.

Once the other car was in sight, Zack slowed down and stayed back far enough to not be suspicious. The car was heading for Logan's old area in town, which was mostly made up of apartment buildings and hotels. Well, if they were going to a hotel he would just have to get a room next to them.

* * *

Kay didn't notice the vehicle following theirs, she was pretty much just accepting the fact that if she was going to get out of this, she'd have to do it herself. She noticed the neighborhood they were in, they'd be reaching Foggle Towers any minute. A short time ago this would have been good news for her, but now that Logan no longer lived here it was pretty much worthless. _Hey, maybe if I can get away I can hide out in Logan's old penthouse! _Well, that wasn't too bad of an idea. She knew her way around that building better than White did, even if he did shoot up Logan's old place. 

The hotel they pulled up to was no more than a block from Foggle Towers, so the possibility of her hiding out there was still open. Tonight would be her best chance, they might have plans for her tomorrow. White went in without the others, leaving Kay alone with the Familiar guards that most obviously didn't like her. She didn't move a muscle while he was gone, out of this entire group she was more comfortable around him. At least with Ames she could be a bitch and not get her head shot off. Slapped maybe, but not shot off. She didn't see Zack's car as it pulled into the parking lot and parked on the other side of it from them. She also didn't see Zack crouch down in the car when White came back out and motioned for them to come in. Kay kept her face pointed down as the man on her left roughly pulled her out.

Ames smiled a little as he saw the group coming towards him. It was nice to see 358 with her head down, he'd wanted her to be submissive ever since he had first met her. Of course, he was also aware that it was all an act. She wasn't submissive to these men, she was just letting them believe she was because at the moment she was at a disadvantage. He had learned about tactics like that when he was in training and he was sure she had too. Still, as much as he liked seeing her look so humbled, he preferred it when she was lively. She was much more fun that way.

Zack's eyes widened as Kay walked past the car. His head snapped up so quickly that it nearly hit the horn on the steering wheel. He jerked his head back down right away, he didn't want White to see him. He didn't need to be recognized before he even got the chance to help. So much for Kay dying after taking him out, they were both alive as could be. No wonder he hadn't been able to find her after the explosion. White had most likely already taken off with her. Zack just hoped she hadn't been hurt too badly in the process. He wasn't sure how the morals of these people were. If they had touched her in any wrong way, they were as good as dead.

Kay was relieved when Ames told the guards they could go to their rooms, he could handle her himself. As soon as they were out of sight, she came to life.

"Is this arrangement going to be as lovely as our last?" she asked with sickening sweetness. A strangely amused smile spread over Ames's face as he pointed out the door down the hall that led to their room.

"Actually, it's worse."

Kay raised an eyebrow, then groaned when he opened the door and she got the chance to look inside. "One bed? You've got to be kidding me!"

Ames chuckled and walked in to throw his coat on the one queen-sized bed in the room. "No, I'm afraid we'll be sharing a bed tonight. You're always welcome to sleep on the floor if you'd rather do that."

Kay looked down at the linoleum that was on the floor. It was cold under her feet, even through her shoes. Even worse, it wasn't completely flat. It was almost lumpy. She sighed and shoved his coat off the bed as she sat down.

"I'd rather not. Well, tonight's bound to be interesting."


	5. They Did A Bad Bad Thing

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 5: They Did A Bad Bad Thing

Brin, Max, and Jondy had been talking for an hour now. There didn't seem to be an end to the things they had to say to each other. They laughed over hearing about Max's first meeting with Joshua, Brin's first attempt at cooking, and Jondy's attempt once to be a stripper to throw Lydecker off her tail when he was following her. The stories just seemed to get crazier as they kept talking. They had only gotten on this subject because Jondy had nearly gone into shock when she learned about Brin and Zack's encounter during Brin's heat cycle. She, like Max, could not imagine any of her siblings together in a romantic way. That was what had bugged her about Kay and Ben's relationship. If Ben had to end up with one of his sisters, why couldn't it have been her?

Brin leaned back into her chair, lifting its front legs off the ground. "I wonder what time Alec will come back."

Max set down the water she'd been drinking. "Alec? He was here?"

"Yeah, he was with Jondy at the door. He left not too long after I answered it. It didn't look like he and Jondy were enjoying each other's company too much."

Jondy groaned and rolled her eyes. "That guy is so annoying! I swear, I've seen five-year-olds more mature than him. Where did you pick him up, anyways?"

Max shrugged. "Well, he was supposed to be my breeding partner at Manticore, but I think you can guess how that went. Once Manticore was gone, he just popped up and started hanging around with me and my friends. He even started working at the same place as me. My boss thought he was the best thing since Bush." At her sisters' raised eyebrows, she said, "Don't ask."

"Personally, I don't think he's all that immature. He's a troublemaker, but not necessarily immature," Brin commented.

Now Max raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"I met him when you were in the hospital a while back. Logan had an Eyes Only mission for him and Kay. It was pretty funny with him and Ben, they didn't like each other at all. He did some pretty stupid stuff while he was there, but you can see there's more going on inside his head that he'll never let anyone know about. He's sort of similar to Zack. Zack hides the fun side of himself because he thinks we won't respect him if he's anything less than the hard-core leader that he's turned himself into. Alec hides the deeper side of himself because he thinks he won't be respected if he's anything less than the hot-to-trot womanizer that he's turned himself into. Those two actually have a lot in common."

Jondy crossed her arms fiercely. "They're polar opposites."

Max shook her head. "No, I can see Brin's point. They're both deeper people than they'll ever let on. When I first got Zack back after he was turned into a machine, he didn't remember his past. When he got it back, he started crying because he felt he had let us all down. He didn't think he was a good enough leader. As for Alec, I found out a few months ago that he fell in love with the daughter of one of the people he was supposed to kill for Manticore. He botched up the mission because he wanted to warn her about what he was going to do to her father. She wound up saving her father's life and getting put into a coma by the bomb that was meant for her dad. Alec never stopped blaming himself for that, just like Zack never stopped blaming himself for Ben, Tinga, and you, Brin."

All three women were silent, not knowing what to say next. Jondy was the first one to say anything. "Do you think I should apologize to Alec? I've been a major bitch to him lately."

Max nodded, then smiled. "You should apologize, but don't search him out to do it. His head doesn't need to get any larger."

* * *

Alec looked at the respectable pile of guns in front of him. He was even faster than Mole at putting them together. At the rate they were going, they'd be ready to get out tomorrow. Mole frowned at Alec's pile. 

"How is it that as soon as you get started, the number of weapons skyrockets?"

"I'm just that good."

Mole snorted and examined one of Alec's guns. "Don't get too far ahead of yourself, kiddo. You can go fast, but your guns aren't any better than mine."

Alec grinned ruefully. "That's what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night."

The two of them were still throwing insults at each other when someone tapped Alec on the shoulder. Alec turned around to see Gem standing behind him.

"Hey, what's up?"

For some reason she looked nervous. "I'm not really sure what to do. I had my eye on Freedom Pass like I always do, but I reached down to pick up my water bottle and when I came back up I found this."

She stepped to the side to reveal a little boy with sandy hair standing behind her. Alec looked down at the kid, then gently turned him around by the shoulders so he could see his neck. There was no barcode. He took his hands off the kid and studied him. There was something so familiar about him.

"What's your name?"

The little boy looked up at him with no fear in his eyes. "Ray."

Alec scratched his head, trying to figure out where he had heard that name before. Suddenly, his face grew pale. "Ray White?" Ray nodded, still not showing any fear. "What are you doing here?"

"People came to the farm and started burning things. Aunt Julie brought me down here cuz there was nowhere else to go, then our car crashed. She didn't move, so I came here."

Alec tried not to groan out loud and ran a hand through his hair. "Where's the car?"

"Not that far."

"Show me."

* * *

Kay sat down on the bed and stared down at the hamburger in her hand disdainfully. She was really getting sick of fast food. White was out in the hallway, talking to the guards. That was just fine with her, she didn't need to see him any more than she usually did. Of course, having someone around was a good way to keep her mind off other unappealing subjects. Her thoughts wandered to Ben, then she shook her head and forced the thoughts away. She didn't need to become sad right now, she needed to stay positive. Getting out of here would be no piece of cake, and she couldn't let sad thoughts keep her down. 

Thoughts of Ben always came up when she didn't want them to. Memories of kissing him, laughing with him, and even arguing with him popped into her head at the most inappropriate times. Why was it so hard to forget him? She had forced herself to forget many things before, so why couldn't she do it now? That was a stupid question, she knew why. It was because as painful as losing him was, it would be more painful to forget him. It was hard to imagine her life without him, but it would be like that if she forced herself to forget him. She just couldn't deal with that.

Kay could still remember when she had first met Ben, the way they had hated each other. It was hard to believe that at one point he had wanted to kill her. Well, fortunately he loved as strongly as he hated. As much as he scared her when he hated her, that was how much he attracted her when he loved her. He had turned from the scariest man in the world to the sweetest.

The hamburger finally found its way to the garbage, she couldn't convince herself to finish it. She had completely lost her appetite. After sitting on the bed staring at it, she got up, undressed, and went into the bathroom. She had been dying for a shower ever since having to ride in the car all day with those guards. It hadn't been hard to figure out which one of them had been the one to look through her clothes, he had been looking at her strangely whenever he got the chance. Thankfully he had been the one who was sitting up front with White, so he didn't get too many chances.

The hot water was a pleasant shock, she hadn't gotten the chance for a hot shower in a long time. It had hurt too much because of her back, but her back had started the healing process almost immediately after the cream had been put on. Right now it didn't even hurt, despite the hot water. She grinned when she picked up the hotel shampoo, it was lavender scented. She had always loved scented things and lavender was one of her favorites.

Ames walked back into the hotel room, he was sick of talking to the other Familiars. Despite the fact that he knew their purpose for being here was to watch 358, he couldn't help but get the feeling that the Conclave wanted their eye on him too. It was as if they felt they couldn't trust him, the idea made him furious. He had turned his back on his father for them, gave his son's life to them. They really felt they couldn't trust him? What did they think he was going to do, join the side of the transgenics? The thought was ridiculous, he hated the transgenics more than anything. They had stolen his father's affection from him and had ended up being the reason that the Conclave didn't fully trust him. If his father hadn't wasted his time trying to create beings as powerful as the Familiars, their family would still be one of the most respected families in the cult. It had always been that way, then his father had to go and spoil it. Didn't it occur to him that going against the Conclave wouldn't just ruin his life, it would ruin the lives of those who were close to him as well?

He sat down on the bed and looked down at the pile of clothes next to it. 358 always seemed to leave her things lying around, the lack of tidiness bugged him. You would think that growing up as a soldier she would have learned the importance of cleanliness, but apparently she hadn't done so. Oh well, she would have to suffer the consequences. He picked up the items on the floor and tucked them behind his bag that he had set in the closet. He would give them back to her in the morning, but she would have to do without them for tonight. Usually he wasn't such a petty person, but he was taking out his anger at the Conclave on her. The thought of how uncomfortable she'd be sleeping in the same bed as him with no clothes on made him chuckle out loud. Maybe it would be enough for her to remember to at least take the clothes with her when she went to take a shower.

Kay finally stepped back out of the shower stall, feeling refreshed and more than happy with the smell of lavender in her hair. She grabbed a towel and started drying off as she turned to grab her clothes, unpleasantly surprised when she didn't see them. _Did I leave them out in the other room? _Wrapping the towel around herself, Kay stepped to the door and peered out. White was there by the bed, but there was no sign of her clothes. She saw the wry grin on his face and immediately heard the warning bells go off in her head.

"What's made you so happy?"

He shrugged and turned to the window. "Nothing, but you might not want to take off that towel, you don't have anything else to wear at the moment."

"Yes I do, I just have to find them."

"Good luck, I got rid of them." He made sure she couldn't see the smile on his face, he didn't want her to know he was lying.

Kay rolled her eyes. "Where did you put them?"

Now White turned to face her. "I told you, I got rid of them. To me, anything that's just lying around on the floor is considered garbage. Your clothes were on the floor, I threw them out. It's as simple as that. You're going to be awfully cold tonight."

"Fine, but I'm getting most of the covers. You can sleep in your clothes."

* * *

Alec groaned at the sight of the car as Ray led him up to it. He couldn't believe the kid had survived such an impact, that car was a total mess. Come to think of it, the kid didn't even have a scratch on him. Gem stayed back with Ray as Mole and Alec went to examine the damage. Mole gave a low whistle as they got closer. 

"I'd say that kid has one less relative to deal with now. There's no way an ordinary could make it through this."

Alec nodded and crouched down where the driver's side was. He couldn't really see inside, but his nose told him all he needed to know. "She's dead already. How did he get out?" Alec gestured back towards Ray.

Mole shrugged and walked around to the other side of the wreckage. "Made of steel, I guess. I don't think even a transgenic would have walked away from this one. Those people aren't that tough, are they?"

"I'm not sure. Max said she saw White get hit by a car and get up as though nothing had happened. Maybe his kid is just as tough."

"That's a scary thought. How would we ever win a war against them if crushing them like bugs isn't even an option?"

Alec frowned as he walked over to where Mole was and noticed the condition of the passenger side. It was almost crushed flat. "I'm not so sure he was in the car when this happened. I don't care how tough they claim to be, not even Houdini could have escaped from this one. He's lying about what happened, I'm almost positive."

Both transgenics jumped when Ray's small voice reached their ears. "I never said I was in there with her. I just said the car crashed."

Alec turned to face the little boy. "Ok then, where were you when this was going on?"

Ray turned and pointed to a dumpster that was about twenty yards away. "I was eating my supper and she was going to get some more food, so she told me to keep eating there while she went to get it. When she came back, she was driving really fast and she just crashed into this wall."

"Why was she driving so fast?"

"I don't know."

Mole and Alec exchanged worried glances. If the cult had somehow found out about Ray being alive, they would most certainly take out Julie first. She was too much of a liability. Of course, they couldn't be sure that was what happened.

* * *

Zack poked his head around the corner and looked down the hall that he knew Kay's room was in. He could see three men stationed at different points down the hall, he had no doubt they were from the cult. He had never taken on a Familiar before to even know how he'd be able to handle it, but three at a time was definitely going to be too much. 

One of the guards yawned and leaned back against the wall. Zack took a closer look at the other two and realized they weren't completely awake either. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. Zack turned and headed back down to the lobby, making plans the entire way.

* * *

Pulling as many blankets around herself as she could, Kay tried to make herself comfortable on the bed. It was a little unnerving to be laying here with no clothes on with White just behind her. She just made sure no skin was showing from her toes to her chin. She'd be a little warm tonight, but she could handle it. She really didn't have any other choice anyway. 

"Comfortable, 358?" Ames asked cheerily from behind her.

"Snug as a bug in a rug," she replied, pulling the blankets closer around her.

"I'm surprised you even know that saying."

"I know a lot of things."

"Unfortunately, you don't seem to know your place."

Kay rolled onto her other side and glared at him. "My place is not where you think it is. I'm more than that damned number you keep calling me by."

He smirked as he pulled on the sweatpants he'd been sleeping in the past couple nights. "Well, what would you prefer I call you?"

"My name's Kay."

He slid into the bed next to her and grabbed one of the blankets off of her for himself. "Did you come up with that in the past year? It's not very creative."

"For your information, I've had that name for as long as I can remember. No matter how simple-minded Manticore wanted us to be, we still gave each other names."

"So 452 has a name as well? And the others with you?" He didn't really care, he was just not ready to go to sleep and this made for good conversation. Besides, it was sort of interesting to hear that the transgenics had disobeyed as many orders as the Familiars had when they were young.

"452 is Max. The one you shot was Ben, and the other two were Zack and Brin. Why do you care, anyways?"

"I don't, I'm just bored."

"As long as we're talking, I want some stories too."

Ames raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by stories?"

"Growing up as part of your people. I'm pretty sure you all weren't perfect little soldiers."

"Not always, but we don't consider each other soldiers. We are family."

"And families tend to have a black sheep."

Kay was a little surprised when a wistful smile broke out on White's face. "That would be my father. I heard so many stories from him and my teachers about what a holy terror he always was that I could probably write a book. According to my mother, who was one of the few normal people who knew about our kind, she met him at a party at her college where he spiked the drinks with a new concoction. He was always a scientist, and back then he more or less did it for fun. He could make drugs for anything, and the one he spiked the drinks with was particularly nasty. It made everyone see things flying in the sky, then diving down and attacking them. The people there made the biggest racket that town has ever seen. They basically stampeded down the streets, screaming loud enough to wake everyone in town up. The whole place was filled with police cars, firetrucks, and ambulances. They thought everyone was dying, then when they didn't see anything wrong they thought everyone had gone insane. Dad even got it on tape."

"How comforting to know I was created by a practical joker," Kay joked, then remembered that Sandeman really hadn't created her. She would have been alive with or without him, he just made her stronger.

White tensed at her comment. He had allowed himself to loosen up and forget for a moment that she wasn't human. He could never make a mistake like that again. "I would get some sleep if I were you, we have a busy day tomorrow." With that, he turned his back on her and went to sleep.

Kay sighed and rolled onto her other side, letting herself drift off to sleep. It wasn't the most peaceful sleep she ever experienced, and it didn't last long. She could see Ben right in front of her, smiling and holding his arms out to her. Knowing perfectly well that this wasn't real, she hurried into his arms. He felt so warm, so completely true to life, that any doubt she had of his authenticity suddenly went right out the door.

There were some differences to him though that she noticed immediately. When he kissed her, the kiss wasn't gentle and sweet but was deeper and more passionate, and somehow, more needy. It felt like he had missed her as much as she had missed him. His grip was different too. His hands clutched her roughly, not as though he was trying to be cruel but more like he was afraid she would disappear if he let her go.

It felt so real as he pushed her down into the bed and pulled the blankets away from her. Her hands slid over his bare chest and headed down until they reached his pants. He usually wore jeans, but it felt like normal cloth under her fingers. Although some part of her recognized that this couldn't be happening, there were so many qualities about it that couldn't possibly just be a dream. One of the things that stood out in her mind was when her fingers ran over a scar on his hip as she removed his pants. She couldn't remember Ben having a scar there, so why was it there now?

Ben deepened the kiss even farther, if that was possible, and she wrapped her legs around him as she urgently returned the kiss. With having to keep at least some of her guard up the past few days, she needed a release of some sort. He pulled his lips away from hers and started moving them down her neck. Now that she had room to breath, Kay had time to think. What was going on? Ben was dead, this couldn't be real, it had to be a dream. Still, it felt like he was really there. As she felt a tiny nip of teeth against her collarbone, she shivered slightly. Ben had never done that before. She moved one of her hands up his back and lifted up his head to look into his eyes to reassure herself that this wasn't real. She froze when his head came up and she got a good look at him.

This was all too real.

* * *

Brin jumped when the cell phone on her hip went off. Max and Jondy looked at her curiously, but all she could do was shrug and press the TALK button. 

"Hello?"

"Brin?"

Brin recognized Sandeman's melodic voice in an instant. "Yes, what's going on?" She knew he wouldn't be calling her if it wasn't an emergency. She didn't even know how he got this number since Zack had been sure not to give it out.

"Zack is on his way to Terminal City. He was in a hurry, otherwise he would have called you himself while he was here. He wanted you to be waiting at Freedom Pass with a drug."

"What kind of drug?"

"It was one that I made when I was set up there. There's no time for me to explain, you need to be waiting for him when he gets there. I assume you know where my lab is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Go there right now."

Brin stood up and covered the mouthpiece of the phone with one hand. "I gotta go, I'll see you guys later." She was out the door before either of them could ask questions.

It didn't take her long to reach the lab, it was nearly in the center of Terminal City. She frowned at the state of the inside of it, it was all too obvious that someone had gone through it like a whirlwind. She remembered Max telling her something about finding a lot of computer equipment in here that Logan needed to get his Eyes Only operation under way again. They had apparently been very rushed in their search.

"I'm here. Where is the drug?"

"If you go up to the second floor, there should be an office at the end of the hall."

Brin headed upstairs and saw the fancy-looking door right away. Did Sandeman always have to make his office stand out from the rest of the building? She pushed open the door and headed in, surprised to see that it didn't look as though Max had come up here with her search. The room was basically untouched and the computer system appeared to be intact.

"Now what?"

"Go to my desk. On the right-hand side you should see three drawers. If you open the second one, empty it out and find the tab at the bottom. Pull it up and you'll find another compartment inside."

Brin couldn't help but smirk to herself as she followed his instructions. Secret compartments? This guy had seen too many James Bond movies. The tab wasn't too hard to find, but it would have been nearly impossible if she hadn't been looking for it. There were several vials inside that were labeled according to their position. Sitting in twelve rows and seven columns, each vial had a label like '5-3' and '4-10' and so on. "Which one of these is it?"

"6-4."

Brin easily grabbed it out of the drawer, holding it up to the light. It was a strange liquid that had a red tinge to it. She was about to open it up to get a better look when Sandeman suddenly snapped a warning from the other end of the line.

"Whatever you do, don't open it! Its fumes will knock you out instantly."

Brin slid the vial into her pocket, luckily unopened, and headed for Freedom Pass. "Why does Zack want this?"

"He didn't share the details. All I know is he wanted something that would put a Familiar to sleep for several hours. Familiars, like transgenics, are immune to many drugs. That includes sleeping powders and such, but I designed something to knock them out for my protection. That entire drawer was filled with different drugs that were specifically meant to attack Familiars. That's why I kept them hidden from my other chemicals."

"If these drugs were meant to work on Familiars, then wouldn't they hurt you?"

"How do you think we tested them to see if they worked?"

Brin was honestly surprised, she would never have thought that he would compromise himself. Of course, these drugs were meant for his protection from the others.

Headlights could be seen as Brin approached Freedom Pass. She muttered her goodbye to Sandeman and dashed through the opening in the fence before the soldiers could look down. Since it was only her going through, she didn't need any other distractions. Zack had already pushed open the passenger door for her by the time she reached the car, so she just jumped right in. His eyes were already questioning. She rolled her eyes and pulled the vial out of her pocket.

"Did you really think I would come without it?"

He snatched it from her hand and smiled strangely as he slipped it into his coat pocket. Brin couldn't help but be curious. Why did he need that vial and why did he need her help?

"What's going on?"

Zack's face grew serious again. "You'll find out after it's over."

Brin sighed and leaned back against the seat. She wasn't going to get any answers from him right now. Still, the number of questions only increased as they headed for Logan's old part of town.

* * *

This wasn't a dream, but it also wasn't Ben. She found herself staring up into a very confused pair of brown eyes. 

"Ames?"

She didn't know why his first name came out of her mouth, but it seemed to reach him better than calling him 'White' would have.

It was almost like waking a person out of a sleepwalk, which was probably more or less what it was. His eyes cleared as he looked down at her, it became clear through them that he was slowly waking up and realizing what was going on.

"Kay?"

A shiver went down Kay's spine when he said her name. It sounded so strange coming from the mouth that she usually heard '358' from. Apparently it had stuck with him when she had told him her name earlier. Ames shook his head hard and lifted himself up from her so he could look down easier.

"What the hell are we doing?"

It had been the shock of his life to look down and see Kay's face. He had been dreaming about Wendy, but he should have known that the dream had seemed too real. Right now since they hadn't done anything yet, he just wanted to get away before he lost control. He braced his hands on the pillow on either side of her head and started to push himself away from her, but the legs she had wrapped around him suddenly squeezed him hard, refusing to let him go.

Kay couldn't explain it, but she was wound up now and didn't want to stop. Even seeing who she was really with hadn't made the urges go away. She knew she wasn't in heat, that wasn't due for another few days and it was always punctual, but she still needed him. It almost didn't matter who it was, she just needed someone to be with her. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

"Don't stop."

* * *

They had gotten delayed at the checkpoints several times so they were nearly an hour behind schedule, but they were finally almost there. Zack hadn't said a word during the trip and Brin hadn't pressed him, but she still wanted to know what was going on. It had to be important otherwise he wouldn't be going through all this trouble. She could see him fingering the vial in his pocket as they pulled into the parking lot of a hotel that was just down the street from Foggle Towers. 

"Why are we here?"

Zack didn't even bother to say anything, he just pulled up to the front door and got out of the car. Brin clenched her jaw, furious that he wasn't even bothering to say he would tell her later. Maybe he wasn't planning on telling her later. That thought angered her further. She got out of the car, but he blocked her path to the hotel.

"I need you to stay out here. As soon as we're back in, you need to get going. Understand?"

Brin nodded and watched him as he headed into the building. We? That was the end of the mystery, this was a rescue mission. She should have guessed sooner, but who could it be? Was another one of her siblings here? Well, they must be being held by the Familiars, otherwise he wouldn't need that drug.

Zack was so intent on being quiet that he almost stopped breathing. He had to make sure they didn't hear him, he didn't want White to be able to get Kay out of there before he could get to her. He already had the vial out of his pocket and was preparing himself to hold his breath for a while.

The guards weren't much more awake than they had been earlier. This job must not have been very eventful before, otherwise he was sure they would be more careful. He pulled in a deep breath and held it, then popped off the top of the vial and rolled it down the hall. He needed the effects to hit them fast before they could question what the vial was doing there in the first place. They did turn to look at it, but they probably didn't even get a good view of it before they collapsed. As soon as he was sure they were unconscious, Zack headed to the room he knew Kay was in. It only took one swift kick to open the door.

At the sight that greeted his eyes, Zack was damn lucky to be able to keep his breath in.


	6. Back With The Family

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 6: Back With The Family

At first it almost didn't look real, couldn't be real, but it was. Zack could see all of Kay's back, then from the hips down she was covered, or tangled, in the sheets. She was sleeping soundly while stretched across White's bare chest. Despite the fact that the sheets also covered White from the hips down, it didn't take much to figure out that he wasn't wearing anything either. It didn't take a genius to realize what was going on, Zack was just furious at himself for coming in here to rescue her when it was obvious that she didn't want to be rescued.

This sight only lasted a second or two, then the sound of the door crashing down from Zack's kick woke them both up. Kay sat bolt upright with her arms crossed over her chest when she saw Zack standing in the doorway. White only caught a glimpse of him before he was reaching for the gun in his coat that was laying on the floor. Zack didn't even give him the chance to reach his coat. Ames found himself dragged out of the room by his throat before he could even react, the only thing he managed to do was clutch the blanket with his legs to keep it from falling off.

Kay grabbed his coat from the floor to cover herself. What was Zack doing here? _Oh God, he must have heard my call! _She should have known that he wouldn't show he had heard her. Her body was shaking from head to toe. Everything seemed to have happened in a blur. She could remember sleeping with Ames, but at the moment she couldn't quite figure out why she had done it. Right now it seemed like the worst decision she had ever made.

Zack managed to get White out of the room without taking a breath, but he was in need of oxygen now. He waited until White was no longer moving, the fumes from the drug finally getting to him. Zack left him laying there and ran back into the room with Kay, throwing open a window and sticking his head out to get a breath of fresh air. As soon as he felt he would be alright again, he sucked his breath back in and stalked towards Kay.

Kay shrank back as he approached. He was in a fit of rage right now and it wouldn't be a good idea for her to try fighting him right now. Her eyes managed to pick up something as he reached the bedside. Why wasn't he breathing? The fumes weren't as strong in the room yet and hadn't started taking full effect on her. She changed her mind about fighting when he punched her hard in the face.

Zack was livid, he didn't know how to fully express what he was feeling. Why had she done it? Had she been working against them the whole time? She wasn't in heat, she would have been all over him right now if she was. He finally became so frustrated that he threw his fist into her face. He was as stunned as she was when he pulled his hand back. He didn't know what had possessed him to do that, he would never deliberately hurt one of the other X5s._ She's not just one of the other X5s. She's always been different and she's never been under my control or protection. If anything it's been the other way around._ The blue eyes that stared up at him were in shock, then the soldier side of her reacted.

Kay's body sprang into action once it fully hit her what he had done. It was almost against her will, but she leapt onto him, punching, scratching, kicking, basically anything she could do to hurt him. Something was happening in the back of her mind that she didn't like, just as it was with his. When he had looked at her just before hitting her, his eyes had been exactly the same as they had been as a child in Manticore. It was a look of pure loathing and disgust. He wasn't the man she had become close to on the farm, he was back to being X5-599, and X5-599 hated her. As soon as she had seen that look, she knew she had to defend herself. She had been outnumbered back at Manticore, but now they were on equal terms. Well, not quite.

Zack was so surprised when Kay attacked him that at first he did nothing but let her tear away at him. There was no real method used in her attacks, she was just trying to inflict damage. She didn't even seem to care that she had nothing on, she just wanted to hurt him. He finally grabbed her hair and slammed her head into the linoleum floor. With the drug starting to take effect, she was knocked unconscious much easier.

Once he was sure it was safe, Zack started searching for something to put on her. He hated to think of what Brin's reaction would be if he brought Kay out to the car naked. He finally reached the closet and pulled out White's bag, seeing Kay's clothes behind it. Feeling a little self-conscious, he completely dressed her and started to carry her towards the window. Just before he reached it, he paused and set her down, then headed back for White. He could be used to get Sandeman to help them easier. He also might be a bargaining chip with the cult.

Zack only bothered to put White's sweatpants back on him, he really didn't care how the bastard looked when he carried him down to the car. He tossed White out the window first, hearing the loud snap as White landed on a stack of crates. That didn't really matter to him. He finally scooped Kay up in his arms and jumped out, landing perfectly on both feet even while holding her.

Brin heard Zack's sharp whistle and drove towards it. She was almost beside herself with curiosity as to who he was with. She nearly crashed into a dumpster behind the hotel when she saw Kay in Zack's arms. She barely managed to stop in time before running over White, not even noticing he was there. Not saying a word, she watched as Kay was placed in the back seat, then White was thrown into the trunk. Zack didn't even meet her eyes as he climbed into the passenger seat. He looked completely preoccupied.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?"

He took a deep breath and ran his fingers back through his hair. "We need to pick up Sandeman and go to Terminal City. There's a lot more shit going on than we thought. I'll have to talk to Kay when she wakes up before anyone else does."

"Why? What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that. I know you better than you think I do, and I know you're hiding something from me. I want to know what it is."

"I'll have to talk to Kay before I tell you anything. I'm not even sure what's going on."

Brin nearly screamed in frustration, she hated how stubborn Zack could be. What was really bugging her was the fact that White was in their trunk. Why the hell would Zack have brought him along? Oh well, there was no point dwelling on it now. She wasn't going to get any straight answers out of Zack.

* * *

Alec was walking towards Max's room, trying to figure out what he was going to tell her. He didn't even really know for himself what was going on. He knew she would be less than happy to hear that Ray was here, perhaps Brin could watch him. She knew him. At the moment, Mole was sitting with the kid. Alec grinned in spite of himself, staying with Mole would either mean the kid would wind up dead or the youngest weapons expert in history. 

Alec was aware that his knock on the door was a little louder than it should have been, but this was important. He groaned and wished he had thought first before coming when Jondy answered the door. She didn't look any happier to see him.

"Do you have a reason for being here?"

Alec felt his jaw clench and silently told himself to calm down. He wasn't going to score any brownie points by blowing up. "I have to talk to Max. Now."

Jondy's hands were firmly planted on her tiny hips. "And what makes you think she has time to see you?"

Alec finally just shoved her out of the way as he walked into the room. "It's an emergency."

Max stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in and gave him an annoyed look that was strangely similar to Jondy's. "It had better be an emergency for you to just barge into my home. What is it?"

"Ray's here."

Max's eyes nearly popped out of her head while Jondy remained with her hands on her hips, feeling completely in the dark. It really bugged her when people talked about a subject she had no clue about.

"Who's Ray?"

Max didn't answer, she just looked at Alec determinedly. "Where is he?"

"The Rec Center."

Max nodded and was out the door before Jondy could repeat her question. Despite the severity of the situation, Alec found himself being amused by Jondy's cluelessness. It amused him even more when she became curious enough to actually turn to him to ask her question.

"Who's Ray?"

Alec placed a look of pure innocence on his face. "Ray? Who's that? I've never heard of anyone by that name."

"But you just said it!"

"What?"

"Ray's name!"

"Who, me? I said no such thing. You're hearing things."

Jondy threw her hands up in exasperation. "And to think I was actually going to apologize to you!"

Now she had sparked his curiosity. "Did you just say you were going to apologize to me?"

Jondy turned to him with wide eyes, she hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud. After a moment, she relaxed and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"No, when did I say that?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Just two seconds ago."

"Who, me? I said no such thing. You're hearing things." She said it in exactly the same tone of voice he had used. Condescending, as though she were talking to a child.

Her last comment made Alec grin. He should have realized she was just making fun of him. He decided to take a rather dangerous leap of faith.

"Let's make a deal. I'll tell you who Ray is if you apologize to me. And trust me, I want the apology to be good."

Jondy's eyes glittered exactly like a cat's. A compromise was just fine by her, as long as she managed to trick her way out of giving anything.

"Fine, but you go first."

Alec crossed his arms. "Do I have 'I am a doormat, walk on me' written all over my forehead? You go first. I'll keep up my end of the bargain."

"Oh please, you don't intend to tell me anything."

Alec grinned mockingly. "Of course I do. I plan on telling you every bit as much as you were planning on telling me. Then again, that's not going to get us very far, is it?"

Jondy groaned and finally gave in. Her curiosity was killing her. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you when you were just grieving over losing a friend. Are you happy?" she mumbled almost inaudibly.

Alec twiddled his fingers and looked at the ceiling. "Did I hear something? I could have swore I did, but even my X5 ears didn't really pick it up. Oh well, must have been my imagination."

"Fine!" Jondy snapped. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you when you were just grieving over a lost friend!" Her voice was definitely louder, almost a shout. Alec grinned again, more like a Dracula grin than anything else.

"Ooh, I felt the _oomph_ behind that one. Now, should I tell you who Ray is or not?"

Jondy grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him against the wall. "You'd damn well better tell me! Otherwise you're going to find I can be one hell of a pain in the ass!"

Alec easily grabbed one of her hands and twisted until she was forced to let him go. "Alright, I'll tell you. Just know that it's not because I'm afraid of you, I already know you can be one hell of a pain in the ass."

Jondy flashed him an evil eye, but it was pretty much the best she could do. It was plain to see that he was much stronger than her, she didn't stand a chance if she decided to fight him. Alec playfully took his time getting something to drink before he talked, fully enjoying Jondy trying to stay quiet and not push him just because she knew he could change his mind in a split second and she couldn't do anything about it. Just when it was getting to the point where she didn't think he was ever going to tell her, he started talking.

"Ray is the grandson of Sandeman, the man who created us. He's also the son of the man who's been doing his damnedest to destroy all the transgenics. Max found out quite a few months ago that White, Ray's dad, was part of a breeding cult that produced people that were just as strong as the transgenics. Max managed to get Ray out of there, but that just made White more determined than ever to catch her. He's the one that killed Ben, and it's because of that that Kay went after him and ended up dying while trying to kill him. Ray was sent to live with his aunt, but just earlier today she was killed in a car accident and he came here for help. His presence here is just going to make things worse for us."

Jondy was stunned. She had thought Ray was just going to wind up being another transgenic, she never expected to get a story like that. She smiled sheepishly. "That completely outclassed my apology."

"I'd say so." Alec's eyes made it clear that he was only teasing, otherwise she would have gotten mad again.

"Funny, Max told me your head would swell and she wasn't kidding. You're never going to be able to get back out that door."

* * *

Max had just made it down to the Rec Center and had spotted Ray sitting next to Mole when Gem came running over to her. 

"Max, a group of people just came through Freedom Pass! I was just coming back from my break when I saw them. They were gone by the time I reached the area, but there's a car sitting outside the fence."

Max looked at Ray and sighed, then followed Gem. She had to pick her battles, and someone breaking through Terminal City's barrier took priority over hearing Ray's story. She was starting to doubt her decision as they walked, and she especially regretted it when she saw the car.

"That's the car Zack used to get the ordinaries out this morning. He probably decided to come back with Brin and see some of his family."

"But then why did I see a group of people?"

"How many did you see?"

"It looked like three people walking, but two of them were carrying more people. One of the people who was being carried was covered by a blanket, I think."

Max raised an eyebrow. Why would Zack and Brin bring back three more people? Terminal City was jammed enough as it was.

"What direction did it look like they were going in?"

Gem pointed off to her left. "I think they headed that way. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure."

Max sighed and started walking in that direction. "You stay here and keep your position. I'll go see if I can find them."

Gem nodded and sat down in the building directly in front of Freedom Pass, feeling embarrassed for not recognizing the car. After all, she had seen it just an hour ago.

Keeping her eyes and ears as alert as possible, Max steadily walked in the direction Gem had pointed. Now she wanted to know what was going on. Even though she hadn't asked for it, she was in charge here and these people were her responsibility. If Brin and Zack had brought anyone that posed a threat to everyone's safety, she'd have to deal with it. She couldn't see why they would do that, but she always had to be a bit on the paranoid side nowadays. It almost made her sad to think she felt the need to protect herself from her family.

Max was just starting to give up on finding them when she heard a commotion in the cellar of an old house on her right. Maybe now she would find out what was going on.

* * *

The first thing Ames was aware of as he woke up was that he was cold, almost numb. It was his back that was completely numb, and the parts of himself that he could feel were bone-chillingly cold. As he moved slightly, he could feel the cold floor beneath his bare back. It felt like he was laying on stone. When he tried to get up, he realized he had been handcuffed to the legs of a table that was nailed into the ground. He rolled over onto his stomach so his arms were crossed over each other, then pulled his legs underneath him until he was in a crouch. Gathering all his strength, which still wasn't at its normal level because of the after-effects of the drug, he dug his heels into the ground and threw himself backwards. He landed on his butt with a thud, the chain of his handcuffs now broken. 

Slowly standing up, Ames looked all around the room he was in. It looked like a normal house basement, probably not anything that would be really hard to get out of. Where was he though? The last thing he remembered was being dragged out into the hall of the hotel by his throat. He gingerly ran his hand over his neck, feeling how sore it was and noting that there were definitely bruises there. He would have thought the X5 would kill him, but apparently he wasn't that smart. Well, Ames wasn't complaining.

He could hear movement upstairs. Being as quiet as possible, he climbed the stairs to the first floor. It didn't surprise him that the door was locked. Maybe the transgenics weren't so stupid after all. He went back down and noticed a laundry chute off to the side. He would never be able to get up through that, but he might be able to hear what was going on.

The echoes that came down the chute were faint, but audible. Ames kneeled down and nearly stuck his head inside to try and hear what was being said. The first voice he heard was one he didn't recognize, but it was female.

"When are you going to tell me what's going on?"

The next voice he didn't recognize either, but since it was male he guessed it was the X5 from the hotel. "I'll tell you after she wakes up."

"Why not now?"

"Because I'm not sure what happened or why. Kay's the only one who can answer that."

Ames pulled his head out of the chute for a moment. The X5 wanted to know why he and Kay had slept together. He shook his head angrily. She was 358, not Kay, he had to stop thinking of her by that human name. He was angry enough with himself for sleeping with her. She was a transgenic for Christ's sake! At first he had been half asleep and had thought she was Wendy, but why had he continued after he realized who she was? The only thing he knew for sure was that after he had started, he had let himself go back to thinking she was Wendy. But why had he started in the first place? It wouldn't be good for him if this got out. The Conclave would have him killed for something like this. He was about to slam his fist into the chute out of frustration when he heard a new voice. This one was also male, but it was strangely melodic and was all too familiar.

"Who was under the blanket? Why didn't you want me to know?"

Ames nearly fell backwards at the voice. No wonder they had brought him, they were going to use him to get his father to cooperate! He forced himself to go back to listening, next hearing Zack speak.

"You'll find out later. It's not important right now. It's more important that I get the answers I need from Kay."

"Why did you even bring the other one along?" That was the female voice again. Ames could tell she was referring to him.

"He could be useful. His use won't last long, so don't worry about it too much."

So, they were definitely planning on killing him. He had figured they would, it didn't upset him too much. No matter how much the idea sickened him, if he could let his father know he was here he might stand a chance at getting out. Maybe even Kay would help him, she wasn't any better off with these people than he was. It didn't sound like Zack was very pleased with her. Not that Ames could blame him. As he pulled his head back out of the chute, his arm came up and his handcuff scraped against the metal of the chute. _Shit! There's no way they didn't hear that._

Zack was in the basement in a flash, leaving Brin to keep Sandeman busy. Ames's reflexes still weren't back up to par, so Zack definitely had the advantage. Zack was hitting hard and fast, not giving Ames a chance to hit back. Zack didn't stop until he sent Ames flying into the wall of the basement. Ames finally sent his fist into Zack's stomach when he got too cocky, but that was all he managed to do before he heard the shattering of glass and Max popped her head down through the tiny window she had broken. The look on her face was nothing less than pissed off.

"Why the hell did you bring him here?"

Zack slammed Ames' head against the wall, making him slump to the ground nearly unconscious. "He could be useful. You don't know all that's been going on."

"Well then, why don't you tell me?" Max pulled her head out of the window and walked around to the front of the house, effectively kicking the door in and opening the door to the basement so she could come down. Zack left Ames where he was, heading for the bottom of the stairs to talk to Max

When Max reached him, her hands were on her hips and her eyes were spitting fire. "You'd better have a good explanation for this! I don't need him to be here."

Ames didn't let it show that he was listening to the conversation, but it was hard to keep his face straight when he heard that. Did this mean he was inside Terminal City? That wasn't good for him at all. It would be hard enough just to get away from Zack and Brin, how would he get away from hundreds of transgenics? They would rip him to pieces! The thought didn't appeal to him greatly.

"He won't be here long, I promise you that. I just need him for a little while. I may not even need him at all, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Max smirked bitterly. "That was always your motto, wasn't it?"

Zack's eyes flashed, but he kept himself calm. "That was for your protection. So is this. You have no idea how necessary it is."

"Then why don't you tell me! I'm not nine years old anymore, I can handle difficult situations if I have to! I don't need your protection anymore."

"So you say. Listen, I didn't come here to argue with you. I might have some pretty good news for you later, but for now you need to go and let me take care of things here."

Max was furious, but she wasn't going to do herself any good if she picked a pointless fight with him. It would be a waste of her energy. That was something she seemed to have a lack of lately.

"Fine, but if he's still here in one week then I'll let Joshua deal with him and I'll throw you out myself! I don't need you causing any more problems around here than we already have!" Max whirled around and stormed back up the stairs, wishing she wasn't so damned helpless when it came to things like this. Still, if Zack said having White here was necessary, she had no choice but to trust him. For a little while anyways.

* * *

Kay groaned and rolled over onto her side. Her head was pounding, it felt like she'd been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. It surprised her when she realized she was laying on a couch in what appeared to be a living room. The more surprising thing was that Sandeman was sitting right next to her in a recliner. She sat upright so quickly that her head nearly exploded. She bit back a cry and raised a hand to her head, her eyes asking her questions of him. He seemed to understand. 

"Don't worry about the headache, that's one side effect my drug has when it's used on transgenics and not Familiars. It's a good thing you're a little bit of both, otherwise the pain would knock you out again."

"What drug?" Kay asked groggily. The world was practically spinning in front of her. Whatever drug he'd given her must have been a doozie.

"It's a drug I designed to knock a Familiar out for quite a few hours. I made it to protect myself from the other Familiars."

Kay looked around. "Where's Zack?" She could remember fighting with him. After what he had seen, he was bound to want to ask a few questions and he wouldn't give her any peace until he did.

"He's busy talking to Brin at the moment."

Kay's eyes lit up. Even though it had only been a few days, she couldn't believe how much she wanted to see her sister. It felt like she had been away from her for an eternity. "Could I see her?"

Sandeman frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid Zack says he has quite a few questions to ask you first. I have no idea what it's about, but it must be important. Do you know?"

"No," Kay lied. She sure didn't need the old man to have a heart attack from hearing his creation slept with his son. She had already killed the other one.

It was at that moment that Zack entered the room. As soon as he saw she was awake, his eyes gave Sandeman the clear warning to get out. He had already sent Brin after Max to spend some time with her. He needed to be alone for a while with Kay.

Once Sandeman was out, Zack dragged the recliner he'd been sitting in so he could sit where he could look Kay in the eyes while they talked. She watched him carefully the entire time, trying to read his body language. Zack had always been good at hiding his emotions, but she could tell he was angry. He finally sat down and faced her.

"What exactly did I walk in on last night?"

"You have eyes, you tell me."

He clenched his jaw, then continued. "I think you had sex with one of our main enemies. Am I correct?"

Damn him, he was talking like a soldier now. Any hope she had of appealing to his softer side had just gone out the window. "Yes."

Now Zack was frustrated as well. He liked to get some emotion out of people when he questioned them, but she was keeping herself as blank as possible. "Have you been working against us the whole time?"

Kay was stunned that he would ever think that. "Of course not. You don't know what the circumstances were."

"Did he drug you? I know you weren't in heat."

"No, he didn't drug me. You wouldn't understand, so there's no point in telling you."

His eyes flashed again. "Try me."

"I was lonely and needed someone. Out of the group I was with, he was the best shot." That wasn't really how it was, but she needed to give him some kind of answer. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she had done it. At the time it had seemed like a good idea. She had been lonely, but that wasn't really the reason. She had the feeling that it had more to do with the fact that she didn't think she was going to live much longer, seeing as how she was being held by the Conclave, and she needed some sort of comfort and had sensed that he needed it too.

Zack was truly furious now. "So, was he good? Did he fulfill your needs?" he taunted angrily.

Kay could have strangled him for that. That wasn't the point of it. With the question in her mind, she couldn't help but ponder it. She wasn't the kind of person to rate how good it had been, but then again she didn't have a lot to compare it with. All her other times had been when she was in heat except for her times with Ben. Ames was certainly a far cry from Ben. It wasn't that it was bad, it was just that it was so much different. Ben had been a naturally gentle person, but Ames was a little more needy and rough. He had almost scared her.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Zack almost growled, then stood up and spun on his heel when he heard a noise behind him. Both he and Kay were shocked to see Brin and Max standing there. They had both decided to come back to find out what was going on and had stood there to listen to the whole conversation. Kay felt completely ashamed at the look on her sisters' faces.

Max was the first one to speak, hurt tears slowly filling her eyes. "Brin told me you were alive and ok, and I thought I couldn't be happier. I can't believe you could ruin that so easily." After that, she turned and ran out the door. Brin gave Kay a hurt look, then turned and went after Max.

Zack didn't say anything, he just slowly walked out of the room. She made it sound like she had just needed someone, but what if she had feelings for White? That would ruin everything. His eyes wandered over a calendar Sandeman had placed on the wall. Well, there was always one sure way to find out how she felt.


	7. A Brother's Revenge

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 7: A Brother's Revenge

The next couple days were longer and slower than ever for Max. After hearing what Kay had done, she'd thrown herself into her leadership position at Terminal City. She had sent others on missions to get more food and supplies, had organized X series soldiers to go out and get jobs for money, and had broken up fights between various transgenics. There seemed to be more fights breaking out that were caused by other transgenics attacking psy-ops soldiers. Max had learned quickly that nobody, freak and X series alike, liked the psy-ops division. As one rather arrogant X6 had said, psy-ops people were more of freaks than the rest of them. No one felt comfortable around them, they were always afraid of their minds being played with.

That disgusted Max, she had nothing against psy-ops. They were just more of her people as far as she was concerned. Their problem was that they couldn't really fit in anywhere. They weren't capable of completely blending into society because people could always get a weird feeling around them even if they didn't know who they were. Then there were the transgenics. They knew what psy-ops were and what they were capable of, so they didn't feel comfortable around them. Several of the transgenics in charge of distributing food to the others had complained about psy-ops soldiers using their abilities to trick them into giving up more food.

Right now Max was trying not to scream at a very lizard-like woman who had actually sent a little psy-ops boy flying across the room because he had looked at her funny. She claimed she was afraid he was using his mind-altering abilities against her. Max knew that was ridiculous, the boy was too young to have perfected his talents, Manticore didn't have time to really get into training him before she destroyed it. He had already scampered off to Elm Street, which was where the other psy-ops people tended to be. Most other people avoided that street.

Max finally went back to her room and collapsed onto her bed. So many problems and she didn't know how much time she had left to fix them. The nation wasn't going to let them just live here forever, they were going to demand some action. From what she'd seen of the news, they already were.

They would need to focus on peace very soon. Logan had finally called yesterday to tell her he was okay and was almost ready to start making Eyes Only broadcasts again. That would be a key factor in getting the public to accept them. It had been nice to hear from him again, she didn't think she could have made it these past couple days without at least hearing his voice.

The only downside was she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him Kay was alive. She knew he would be happy to hear it, but then she would be forced to tell him what Kay had been doing while she was away. It would upset him almost as much as it upset her. It was an absolutely disgusting thought. She couldn't believe her own sister had let that man touch her.

Brin's head popped out of the bathroom. She'd been living with Max ever since finding out Kay was alive. She had no urge to go back to that house. "You feeling okay?"

Max sighed. "Yeah, I've just been dealing with more and more idiots lately. I think it's kind of stupid that we want people to be more open-minded about us, but we can't be open-minded about our own people. How can we ever expect other people to do something for us that we can't do for ourselves?"

Brin walked out in a robe and sat down next to her. "Things will get better. I think it's just affecting you a little more right now because everything's been hitting hard lately. It'll calm down eventually."

"God, I hope you're right. I can't take much more of this. I turned myself into a normal person during my years out of Manticore, I can't suddenly throw myself into the role of a leader like they trained us to do."

"You need to ask others for help that everyone will trust. Everyone in the city knows Joshua and Alec, you could always ask them to help you lead people. That way you won't be doing things yourself."

Max laughed. "Give Alec a leadership position? Do you _want_ our people to die?"

Brin couldn't help but grin. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but it's on the right track. What about Gem? Lots of people like her."

Max shook her head. "She has a baby, I couldn't ask her to suddenly start babysitting hundreds of rowdy transgenics."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Gem's a sweet person, but I really couldn't see her as a leader."

"Manticore trained us all to be leaders, and she was there longer than we were. It wouldn't be a problem for her. I've heard her say how she wishes she had something to do other than watch Freedom Pass. You've got to admit, she has a point."

"How? She has a kid to take care of and I don't."

"True, but you're also a rogue X5 and she was in Manticore for her entire life except for the past year. She's better trained to lead these people than you are."

"Has she actually said that?"

"No, and I don't think she's looking to be head honcho. That'll always be you. Still, I think she wants a more respectful position than watchdog in Terminal City."

"Maybe I'll talk to her about it later. Wait, then I'll have to find somebody I trust and who will do it to be the new Freedom Pass guard."

"What about Mole? At least you'd know your people would be safe. He'd blow any intruder to pieces."

"I'd have to tell him to be more careful about that, but that's a good idea. He's been looking for something to do, this'll give him a chance to be helpful."

* * *

Alec was sitting in the Rec Center, playing cards with a few other transgenics. There was one normal-looking person across from him, but the others didn't have all human features. Not that it bothered Alec, the freaks tended to be more fun because this was the only time in their lives they had ever gotten the chance. A woman who was obviously in the same division as Luke kept rubbing her head strangely. 

"Does anyone else feel weird?"

Alec and the others shook their heads. They kept playing for a few more minutes, then she shut her eyes and started rubbing her temples with both hands after setting her cards down for a moment. Alec was too preoccupied with looking at his hand and trying to come up with some sort of strategy. The normal-looking man across from him was winning by a landslide and Alec wasn't about to lose a game. He was too used to winning.

"Sorry hon, you're screwed."

Alec turned to look over his shoulder, then returned his gaze to his cards. "Thanks for the input. How about telling me something I don't know?"

Jondy grinned ruefully and pulled up a chair so she could sit next to him. They had been getting along pretty well during the past couple days. Max had even asked her if she was getting sick. It just so happened that the two of them had started to enjoy each other's company, but most of what they did when they were together was insult one another. They were pretty comical to listen to.

"I can't tell you anything you don't already know, because you know everything. Or so you think."

"I'll discount that last part and take what you just said as a compliment."

"Ah, selective hearing. Well, whatever makes you happy."

"You leaving would make me happier."

"Anything for you, darling," she drawled sarcastically.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"Your welcome, cupcake."

With the other transgenics trying not to laugh, Jondy stood up and walked around the table to sit next to the man on the other side. Alec rolled his eyes as the others burst out laughing. She just smiled sweetly at him. That was when the female Luke look-alike cried out and grabbed her head. Jondy looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Something is hurting my head! At first it just feels funny, then it gets worse to the point where it's almost a migraine. Then it just goes back to feeling funny."

"How many times has this happened?"

"It wasn't happening earlier when I was playing cards. I'd say it started not too long after he got here." She pointed to the man Jondy was sitting by.

"How many times has it gotten really painful?"

"Quite a few. It happens every few minutes."

Alec didn't really know what to say, he just wanted to finish the game and see if he could win."Whose turn is it?"

The man across from him raised a finger slightly as he looked at his cards. "Mine. I'm just deciding what to do." As he studied his cards, the wolf-like man to the other side of Alec started rubbing his head.

"My head's been feeling funny too. It's worse right now."

Alec could feel a strange sensation in his head, but he wasn't about to tell anyone. Why sound paranoid? The woman finally stood up and set her cards down as she walked away. That was when she paused and looked back at the group. Her eyes ran over the back of the man next to Jondy, then she grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Your barcode, it doesn't belong to an X series. What division are you?"

Alec could already sense what was coming up. By the look on her face, Jondy did too.

The man looked up at the transgenic woman. "Psy-ops."

The wolf-man jumped to his feet and glared down at him. "You've been cheating! That's why our heads felt so funny, you were trying to figure out what cards we had so you could win!"

Both Alec and Jondy had to run over to the little trio as the two freaks started beating on the psy-ops man. Jondy grabbed the wolf-man and Alec slammed his elbow into the head of the other woman. She went to her knees easily, her head still hurting from before. Jondy twisted the arm of the wolf-man behind his back until he stepped away from the psy-ops soldier, who was now on the floor.

"Why don't you two leave? We'll talk to him and sort this out," Alec said calmly. The other two looked at him harshly, but obediently walked away. Jondy kneeled down next to the man on the floor.

"What's your name?"

"Zeke."

"Okay Zeke, were you cheating at that game?"

"Yes, but that's only because my girlfriend and I really need the money. 452 won't let any psy-ops go out to make the money, and that means we don't get much extra. My girlfriend is pregnant, we need some cash."

Alec rubbed his head, the strange feeling was fading. He could see why Zeke had done it, but that didn't mean he agreed with it. After all, he had needed some money too. Personally, now that everything was over he just didn't care. Zeke could do what he liked, but even Alec could see that he had made himself one more psy-ops soldier that wouldn't be trusted by others in the Rec Center. There seemed to be a lot of them lately.

* * *

Kay was still laying on the couch, which was where Zack had told her to keep herself. He didn't trust her to go anywhere, even though he hadn't let her know about White being in the basement. He hadn't wanted to take the chance that she might help him out. 

Sandeman had basically been Kay's babysitter. He'd cooked her meals and sat by her at night when she was bored out of her mind. He had told her some pretty interesting things about herself and the others.

Kay had found it very interesting when he said that she was more than just a key to the Coming, she also had other strange things in her blood that he had not put there. For one thing, the entire family of the key was like a miracle cure for other Familiars. Their blood could be used to heal a sick Familiar if they had already been initiated, otherwise the key's blood would be deadly. It also went the same for Kay with the transgenics because Sandeman had made them immune. Max was protected the most against the snake pathogen, but the rest also had some protection. The virus wouldn't kill them at least.

Other things were that he had made her mostly immune to drugs that would effect both Familiars and transgenics. That was why the drug that Zack released in the hotel hadn't knocked her out right away. It wouldn't have made her pass out like the others even if she had gotten a full dose of it. It would have just made her a little weaker temporarily.

The last thing he said had worried her. "You're also very capable of curing yourself of any permanent damage. That's why you grew out of your serotonin deficiency and that's why Renfro kept you in the breeding program."

Kay's eyes had nearly popped out of her head. "Do you mean I can still get pregnant?"

Sandeman had shrugged, not knowing why she was so worried. "We never tested you, but the possibility that you had cured yourself was very high. Even if you aren't 100% again, you may still have some production going on and you may still have a slight chance of being able to get pregnant."

That news had almost terrified Kay. She could be pregnant right now, either from Ben or from Ames. If she was pregnant, it was much more likely that Ben was the father, but she still didn't like the other possibility. When she was in Manticore she had just assumed that Renfro didn't know she was infertile. That was why she had refused to sleep with X5-547, she didn't see the point if she wasn't going to get pregnant. She wasn't that interested in the breeding thing anyways. The idea sickened her.

Now she was watching TV, flipping over channels and trying to find something that didn't have to do with the debate over transgenics. It seemed like people didn't have anything else to think of lately. She had just about reached her wit's end with this when something caught her eye. On the screen there was a shot of someone being carried into an ambulance in a body bag. _Let me guess, this'll be blamed on transgenics too._

"The victim was found just ten minutes ago in the alley behind her house. People at the scene said it looked like an animal attack, but the attack itself was not seen. The only person near the scene at the time of the attack has agreed to have a word with us and give us his description of what he heard."

An older man stepped up next to the reporter and started talking. "I was on my way home from the market this morning when I heard a scream. All I heard next was a loud crash and some scuffling noises, like a fight. By the time I got there, the person who did it jumped over the fence into the next alley."

The reporter looked surprised by what she had just heard. "Person?"

"Yeah, at least it looked like a person. I could only see their back as they jumped over, but they didn't seem to have much hair either. It looked like a bald man."

Kay turned the TV off and set the remote down as Sandeman came into the room with her lunch. Even though he didn't say anything, she could see by his eyes that he had heard what was being said.

"Are you okay?"

He looked up at her and forced a smile as he set her plate of food on her lap. He wasn't exactly Logan when it came to cooking, but he wasn't bad either.

"I'm fine."

"You don't happen to know anything about that attack, do you?"

She had touched on something with that comment, she could tell by the cornered look in his eyes. Still, he shook his head and sat down in his recliner. "No, it just sounds like we have some strange people out there these days."

Kay set her plate on the floor, this conversation was more important. "Tell me what you know, and don't tell me you don't know anything because I know you do."

Sandeman bit his lip, then started talking almost too quietly to be heard. "We didn't mean to damage the X series so badly in the beginning, but it was almost out of our control. The X2s were the first that we tried to use feline DNA with, but they came out a little too cat-like. Their other problem was that some of them had more violent tendencies. They would tear people apart like an animal would. We only kept four of them alive, but that was for testing. It wasn't necessarily because they were more sane than the rest, because they weren't, but more because they hadn't hurt themselves too badly when they went on their killing sprees."

The thought had never occurred to Kay that the X2s had gotten out when everyone else did. She had more or less forgotten about them, but the thought of them being loose in the world sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't believe everyone else had forgotten about them.

"Have you known they were killing again?"

He nodded wearily. "Yes, I've been tracking them ever since Manticore was blown up. I think they've been traveling together, because the attacks seem to go in a line. At first they were heading away from Seattle, but lately they've been making their way back. Apparently they've arrived."

Kay didn't like the thought of those creatures being so close to her. She remembered the terror she had felt as a child when she'd accidentally been put in the same cell as one of them. It had later been overshadowed by the treatment she received from the other X5s, but she could still remember how she had gone rigid at the sight of the thing laying on the bed. Knowing what it could do to her was terrifying, and she could never defend herself against one of them when she was only five years old.

"How screwed up were they mentally?"

"They were insane if that's what you meant."

"No, I already knew that. I mean how intelligent were they? Just because they were insane doesn't necessarily mean they were stupid."

Sandeman lowered his eyes to the floor. "Well, you're right, they weren't stupid. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It's part of what made them so dangerous. I know they refused to talk to the psychologists and they had never spoken to anyone before, but I know they could talk. They did it amongst themselves all the time, I heard them. They just didn't want anyone else to know they could talk. It made others assume exactly what you asked me about, they would assume the X2s were stupid and they would be careless. That was when the attacks would happen. No one ever realized how smart they truly are. They are probably every bit as intelligent as you and me."

"Do you think they came back because of what's going on in Terminal City?"

"Yes, but they don't want to help us. They want to make things harder. If you thought my people hate you, it's nothing compared to these creatures. The surviving X2s became jealous of the other transgenics in Manticore because we used them for missions. The X2s felt cheated, they were every bit as good as the rest of you. I know about your encounter with an X2 as a child, if he had been awake he would have torn you to pieces. They have so much hate in them that there probably wouldn't have been anything left of you when he was done."

"There's a comforting thought," Kay grumbled. Even if she was at odds with the others, she didn't want them to have to deal with these things. This was one time when she was glad that Ben wasn't here. He had been terrified of the X2s, seeing them without a steel door between them would have driven him completely over the edge. Not that it was going to be any easier for the others. Even though none of them believed in the stories anymore, the X2s were still a sign of terror for them.

Both Kay and Sandeman looked up when Zack came into the house. His eyes barely registered that he saw them, he simply turned and went downstairs where he'd been going a lot lately. Kay had never felt more uncomfortable around him, she had the feeling he was going to pull something she wouldn't like. That was just his style, he never let someone betray his trust and get away with it. She couldn't imagine what it would be, but she was sure she wouldn't like it. He had gotten to know her well enough in the past several months that he would know what would hurt her the most.

Zack looked at the calendar again as he headed downstairs. It was going to be soon, he knew it. It always happened right on schedule, you could set your clock by it. It would either be later today or sometime during the night, tomorrow morning at the latest. He smiled to himself as he reached the cold floor of the basement, it would settle things oh-so-nicely.

Ignoring the man laying on the floor on the other side of the room, Zack went back to work on what he'd been doing lately. He had been setting up a door that a transgenic would not be able to get through and that could only be opened or closed from the outside. He had found the right kind of door easily enough, it was finding enough stuff to keep it on the wall so that it couldn't be broken down or torn away that was the hard part. He was almost done attaching it to the wall, but he wanted a few more things so that he could be sure it wouldn't be coming off no matter what was done to it.

Ames watched all this with interest. He had seen Zack working on this for the past couple days or so, but he still couldn't figure out what the point was. He was already tied up, so it wasn't like Zack would need a door to hold him in. Even though he was at full strength again, Ames still couldn't break out from the chains that Zack was now using to restrain him. He had broken out of a few more pairs of handcuffs before Zack did this, but he'd eventually been forced to when he realized that pretty soon Ames was going to be strong enough to outmatch him.

From what he could tell of the last conversation he'd overheard between Brin and Zack, Ames knew they hadn't told his father or Kay that he was here. He had been tempted several times to make some sort of noise that would convince them to come down so they could see him, it wasn't like Zack was here all the time to stop that from happening. Still, he couldn't work up the courage to do it, he couldn't face his father yet. The old man was a point of embarrassment with him and Ames was personally sure that Sandeman had made C.J. as crazy as he was. That made him more angry than anything, he didn't even have any family in the cult that he could depend on. It was why it hurt him so much that his son had died while trying to be part of them.

Ames looked up at Zack again when he heard a satisfied sigh. It looked like he had finished the door. Well, that was good news for Ames if it meant it would get Zack to stop coming down here. He didn't like being near the male X5, he could sense how he felt about him from all the way across the room. It wasn't a nice feeling.

* * *

Jondy was feeling rather uncomfortable right now. She was sitting with Alec and Mole in the Rec Center while Mole and Alec built more guns, and she wasn't sure if she had a good feeling about it. She felt odd around Mole, she could sense something off about him. Max had told her that he had been reluctant to even join in the stand-up against the rest of the nation, he had wanted more than a stand-up. He had wanted action, and from the looks of the guns in front of her, he still did. 

Mole was whistling quietly while he worked. Jondy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Why are you so cheerful?"

His face turned more serious and he kept his eyes on the guns at all times. "Nothing, I'm just glad my work here is almost done."

"How is it almost done? Max was going to ask you to guard Freedom Pass."

Now Mole's eyebrow went up. "Really? Well, that changes everything."

Jondy felt a little relieved when he smiled, but that only worried Alec more. He knew how the other transgenic's mind worked, and something was going on in there that he wasn't sure he would like. Mole was rarely such an agreeable person.

Logan sat in front of the TV, completely glued to it. He'd been watching everything on the X2s since the news had first come out. He didn't know yet that they were the X2s, but he was sure they were transgenic. Despite the fact that the cameras were always focused on the various reporters, you could still see some of the crime scene behind them. There was blood all over the place, it must have been a gruesome attack.

Logan was more interested in the people he could see milling around in the background. Matt Sung was at the crime scene, as was Clemente. He knew this wasn't their area of expertise, but pretty much everyone had been asked to try and figure out the case. His eyes wandered over some of the police. Most of the police uniforms were recognizable, but there were a couple people who were wearing unfamiliar ones.

It wasn't until he saw a flash of red that a surprising realization hit him. The Phalanxes were at the crime scene. Thula was walking around with one of the others, while the rest stood guard around the edge. Logan couldn't help but be curious. Why were they standing guard? Surely Thula was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He could tell she was annoyed by it, her eyes spoke volumes.

Something struck him strangely. Thula reminded him of Kay, especially since red had been Kay's most recent hair color. Kay was not as thick as the lead Phalanx, nor as square-jawed, but the resemblance was there. Now that he had noticed it, it was almost creepy how much they looked alike. If he had met Thula under different circumstances, he was sure he would have noticed it sooner. Max and Alec would have seen it too. Kay was a smaller, prettier version of Thula, but they were nearly identical. Those blue eyes stood right out in Thula's head, just as they did with Kay. They both seemed to have a feeling that became associated with their presence, something like sheer power. You became aware almost the moment you were near them that they were different.

Logan wished he could see Kay again, if only to stand her up next to Thula and make sure he wasn't just seeing things. He felt a pain inside at the thought of seeing her, and he pushed his thoughts of her away. He couldn't believe Max was coping as well as she was. She had nearly closed down after snapping Ben's neck, he would have thought this would destroy her. Come to think of it, he was sure something had been up with her yesterday when he called. It looked like she was dying to say something, but she backed out of it at the last moment. Whatever it was, it was upsetting her deeply. He would have to talk to her when he got the chance.

* * *

Even though it was chilly in the house, Kay was starting to feel warm. She had nearly inhaled the plate of food Sandeman had brought her after they finished their conversation, even though it had been starting to get cold. Her stomach was still growling, but that wasn't where her focus was. The warmth was spreading everywhere, and her mind started wandering. 

She heard Zack's footsteps coming back up the stairs, so she sat up quickly to face him. She wanted to know what was going on with him. She was sick of not knowing what was going on directly below her feet. The thing that bugged her the most was the fact that a couple of times since Zack had started his project, she had heard noises downstairs that sounded like he was fighting with someone. Sandeman had been curious too, but Zack had nearly taken the old man's head off when he tried to go downstairs to see what was going on.

When Zack stepped into her sight, any thought of asking him what was going on went straight out the door. She was on her feet and moving towards him before she knew what she was doing.

When he had smelled it coming up the stairs, Zack had known it was time. He nodded with satisfaction and nearly smiled, he loved it when things went according to schedule. Kay truly was perfectly punctual. When he had seen her approaching him once he was upstairs, he turned away so that the scent of her heat cycle wouldn't overwhelm him. He needed to keep his head right now.

Kay was more than surprised as she reached him when he grabbed her and spun her around so he couldn't look into her eyes. She writhed in frustration at being so close to him and not being able to do anything. Her body was going insane, she just needed him. She could tell he needed her too, but why was he resisting?

Zack was still struggling with his own body's reaction to her when he kicked the basement door down. He felt her body tense as he started to pull her down the stairs. _Damn, she's getting suspicious. I'll have to get her mind on the right track._

Kay was confused now in spite of her heat. What was going on? She was focusing on that one idea when Zack slid a hand down her side and stroked his fingers over her hip and thigh. Her body reacted immediately, pushing against him until not even a piece of paper would have been able to fit between them. That was when she whipped herself around and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself flat against his body and kissing him.

Zack was stunned, he hadn't anticipated how much power he would lose over her when he took one hand off. It took every last bit of willpower he had to push her away. It would have been so easy to just take her back up the stairs and throw her on the couch and have her, but that wasn't the plan. He spun her back around and pressed her back into his chest, making sure she couldn't make eye contact with him. That would pretty much finish it off for him.

Kay never really got the chance to get suspicious again, every time she did he would start kissing her neck, making sure to keep his hands securely locked around her. He needed her to be completely in the mood when they reached the basement, otherwise she might not do what he wanted her to. His entire plan depended on her giving in to her desires.

As soon as their feet touched the basement floor, Zack pushed her straight across the room before she even knew what he did and he quickly jumped back and slammed his newly built door shut behind her. Kay's feet slid over the stone until they ran into something, then it took all of her concentration not to fall over. She took a step back once she had regained her balance, then looked down. That was when she lost all control.

Ames had felt something hit his ribs, but then a strange smell assaulted him and took over. He barely recognized it, but he wouldn't realize until much later that he had smelled it the last time Kay had been in an actual heat around him. He didn't really get a chance to ponder it, Kay was on him too quickly. Her hands were clawing at his sweatpants as she leaned down and kissed him deeply.

Kay knew in the back of her mind that this wasn't good, but her body begged to differ. Also, the chains around his arms intrigued her. This could be fun.

* * *

Zack shut the top basement door behind him, already hearing the noises from downstairs that hinted his plan was working. He would find out Kay's reaction to what she had done after she came out of heat, that would pretty much determine for him whether or not she was on their side or White's. He knew Max would kill him for this, but he figured it was fair. After all, hadn't Kay thrown Brin onto him when she was in heat? This was just payback. 


	8. Don't Play Nice

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 8: Don't Play Nice

Mole was strolling through the Rec Center, looking for someone familiar so he could maybe get a game of cards going. That was the best way to talk about his plans so no one else got suspicious. So far he had several transgenics that felt the same way he did about everything that was going on, but none of them had the guts to act on it without a real plan. They felt they needed something secure before they agreed to leave Terminal City. Mole thought that was ridiculous. Did they consider this situation secure? They were trapped in the middle of a large city, hiding out in a toxic area. He didn't find that secure.

A tall, normal-looking man came strolling in from the other side of the Rec Center. Mole had to think for a moment, that guy looked familiar but he couldn't remember where he'd seen him. He smiled as the answer came to him, that was the psy-ops guy that had been blamed for cheating at cards the other day. What was his name again? Mole had to rack his brain for at least two minutes trying to come up with it. _Oh yeah, Zeke._

Zeke looked up nervously as Mole approached. "What do you want? I don't plan on staying, I just needed to find 452."

Mole came to a stop about three feet from the other man. "Don't worry, I don't plan on kicking you out. What do you need to see Max about?"

"Um, I want to get a job outside Terminal City like some of the X series are doing. I need the money pretty badly."

Mole nodded sympathetically. "So I heard. Something about your girlfriend, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, she's pregnant. Do you think 452 will let me get a job?"

"For one thing, don't call her 452 or you're never going to get anywhere. For another, she's probably not going to let you because she feels the same way as everyone else. She doesn't trust you any more than she trusts those cult idiots. Besides how she feels, she needs to keep herself a respectful figure if she's going to lead the city and that's not going to happen if she's letting a psy-ops out to work." Mole knew that wasn't true, Max would help the young man out happily even at the expense of her popularity. Still, he wasn't going to get what he wanted out of Zeke if he told him the truth. A brilliant idea had just struck him, and judging by the look on Zeke's face, it was going to work.

"You really think she won't help me?"

"I'm sure of it buddy. She's not the sweetest person in the world, or the brightest. If you ask me she's a rather naive kid, not to mention self-centered. She would never let you do anything unless it benefited her."

"Dammit, I was depending on getting a job. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Do you want to get out of here?"

Now Zeke looked slightly interested. "Yeah, do you know a way out?"

Mole nodded, this was going to work better than he had hoped. "I'm the new guard of Freedom Pass. I could let you sneak out every day to go to a job, but I would need something in return because Max would have me hanged if she ever found out."

"What do you need?"

"Well, I want 25% of whatever money you make. Then I want some information about how the ordinary soldiers are set up. I need to know the easiest way through so I can get a group of people outside."

"I could do that, but are you planning an escape? If you are, I want in, and probably so will the rest of the psy-ops. We're not going to get fair treatment here."

"Well then, consider yourself in."

* * *

Brin and Max had finally decided to go to the house, Zack had figured it was about time for Max to meet Sandeman. So far, he had basically told her what he'd already told Kay. The only thing he left out was the fact that Kay was Thula's little sister. The only people who'd heard that had been Kay, Ben, and the Skeptic, and two of them were now dead. He knew it was probably better if Kay was the only person who knew about it, the less people who knew meant there was a lower chance that the Familiars would ever find out who they really had to fear. 

Max was completely wrapped up in what Sandeman was saying. It was nice to find out what she was made for instead of just knowing she was different than the others. The only thing that bugged her was not knowing who the family of the anti-key was. If worst came to worst and she was forced to stop the Coming herself, how was she supposed to know who to go to so she could make the complete formula to destroy the airborne pathogen? He obviously knew who it was, but why wouldn't he tell her? She would need that information in order to be of any help.

Brin was listening with half an ear, this didn't really interest her. She was more curious about where Kay was. Where had Zack hidden her? That probably wouldn't have bothered her before, but Zack kept looking like he was listening for something. She could only assume it had to do with Kay.

Zack was trying to hear what was going on in the basement, it had been quiet down there all morning. He was expecting that if she was out of heat that she and White would be fighting by now, but still he could hear nothing. What was going on down there? He would have to find a way to go down and look without seeming suspicious to anyone else, Brin was already keeping an eye on him. She must have noticed him listening. If only she could just pay attention to the story, he could get out of here easier. Of course, Brin always had to make things hard for him just when it was important.

Brin could see Zack wanted to do something, but he had already caught on to her watching him. He wouldn't do anything as long as he was under scrutiny, but it was obvious he was dying to. If he got up to go anywhere, she would follow him and he knew it. Max and Sandeman were completely oblivious to this. Maybe it was better that way.

* * *

Kay rolled over so she was laying on her stomach. Why was it so cold? She opened her eyes and looked down, then looked over to the only bit of warmth on her side. Damn, she had done it again? Ames was dead to the world, sleeping like a baby. Well, she didn't blame him. An X5 in heat could very easily wear a man out. 

She slowly sat up, she was sore all over. How long had she been down here? It wasn't like she had been keeping track of time, and there was no clock down here. Where were her clothes? She finally spotted them across the room where Ames had been tied up before. That had been interesting at first, but eventually she had managed to get them off. She pulled on her clothes, trying to stay as quiet as possible. She didn't want Zack to hear her and come down.

Zack! Everything that had gone on when she first went into heat came flooding back to her. That bastard! He had set this up! Well now she _did_ have someone to be angry with. She would never have been angry with Ames, he didn't really have a choice in the matter. But Zack? She could see the door he'd been working on, he'd done a good job with it. Well, just as soon as he got down here she was going to smash his head into it! Who did he think he was? Did he think this was some sort of payback for what she did to him and Brin? That was ridiculous, those two were very close anyways and it might have happened even if she didn't throw them together. She couldn't believe he could be so immature.

When she had first slept with Ames, that had been a one time deal. They had both understood that it wasn't going to happen again and that they should probably just forget it after it was over. But this? Zack had taken away her right to decide what to do about her heat. She had always taken good care of herself at that time and that usually meant she was by herself, but he had just thrown her with someone. She knew how his mind worked, he was testing her to see if this would upset her. Hell yeah it upset her, but it wasn't the actual deed that made her angry. It was him taking advantage of the situation. He had even kept her in the mood on the way down the stairs!

With every thought she had, Kay became more and more furious. It disgusted her that someone she had trusted had done something like this. Did he expect her to still be on his side after this? If he did, someone needed to screw his head on straight. He had just made himself one very pissed off enemy.

Ames gave out a low groan in his sleep and his eyes fluttered open. At first he wasn't sure why he was so sore, but as soon as he saw Kay he remembered. Why did that have to happen? He knew the Conclave would kill him for sleeping with a transgenic, then he went and did it again! Of course, she had been in heat this time so there was an excuse. It was the first time that could still cause him problems.

"Do you still believe your family loves you? I would be hard pressed to change my mind."

Kay's look shot daggers. "It never mattered to me how they felt about me. I could have gotten along just fine without them, they just kept popping up in my life. As long as I get out of here, I don't give a rat's ass how they feel."

Ames smirked and grabbed his sweatpants off the floor. "Why don't I think that's true?"

"You've spent too much time dealing with Max, she's more emotional than I am."

"So you're saying you're more like me?"

"Sort of, without your dependencies."

"What dependencies?"

"Well for one thing, your dependency on the cult. Answer me honestly, do you really think you could go on if they all disappeared one day? Would you even know what to do with yourself?"

Ames sat down on the floor, shuddering from the chill of the stone even through his pants. "I can answer that honestly. Yes, I would be able to go on. I'm not just saying that, like I'm sure you're thinking. It's exactly the same thing as you and Manticore. You grew up with them in your life all the time, then they were gone. You're still here, obviously. It would be the same with me."

"Would you be doing what you are now?"

"What, sitting in a cold basement being held captive by freaks? Probably not."

"No, chasing after us. Is that what you would be doing if the cult wasn't there to make you?"

He shrugged, not really knowing how to answer. Would he be here? The scary thing that came to him was that he probably wouldn't be, he'd most likely be helping his father protect them. As a child, he and Sandeman had been very close, very similar to him and Ray. The only problem came when his father humiliated him in the cult by creating the transgenics and leaving the Conclave. If there had never been a cult, that never would have happened and he and Sandeman would most likely still be as close as ever. That would mean he would be on the transgenic side rather than the Familiar side.

"Probably not, but why would that matter now?"

"Do you really want to be where you are?"

"I don't want to be in this damn basement, that's for sure. I like my job, and I liked it all along. That's why..." He hesitated, he had gone way too far. No one was supposed to know that.

Kay cocked her head to the side. "That's why what? You may as well go on, who am I going to tell? It's not like anyone's in the mood to listen to me."

Ames frowned, but she was right. The others wouldn't even believe her if she told them. "I dropped out of the Phalanxes so I could hunt transgenics and make up for my father's mistakes."

Kay's eyes widened. He had been a Phalanx? She remembered how strong he'd been when they'd fought, but she was still far stronger. Well, he would have been better off staying where he was.

"Was your entire family part of them?"

He nodded. "We've always been second-in-command, right next to Thula's family. Phalanxes get better education than the rest, and my father went into genetics. I went into politics and law enforcement, but I did take a class in genetics. My father insisted, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I was never that interested in it myself, the only thing I'm good at is reading test results. That hasn't really come in handy very many times."

"Who took your place after you left the position?"

"The others trained and took tests to see who was better suited, then another Familiar was chosen to take their place. That was a fiasco, every second class family wanted a part in it."

Kay was slightly interested in hearing all that went on in the cult; after all, it would have been her life if Sandeman hadn't changed her. "How do they decide who gets to be a Phalanx, and what's a second class family?"

Ames sighed, he really didn't have anything better to do. "Well, I should do the class part first if you're going to understand. The classes are determined by your ancestry. The very first group of children to ever survive the initiation became the first true Familiars, but even though they were continually paired with others as time went on, we would never have had enough of us without adding to the group. That's why they made more original Familiars, which are Familiars that are born from two regular people with strong immune systems that we paired off. The next group of these original children to survive were the second true Familiars, and this went on for quite a while. There are ten groups in all, but by the time the second group was old enough to reproduce, the first group had already had children of their own. All the other groups were one generation behind the other, which meant that they were one generation behind in strength. The descendants of the first group are called the first class because they're the farthest ahead out of our people as far as evolution goes. The second class is the next strongest, and it goes all the way down to the tenth group which is the weakest. They're not weak by any means, just compared to the other classes."

"So, the strongest of the first class families become the Phalanxes? Why aren't there more then?"

"Because there weren't that many first true Familiars, most of the group didn't survive. There were only six originals, one of them being the key. Since the key's family has always been paired with another Familiar, that made it so only five children were born from the group. After that the key has always been paired with a second class Familiar to keep the first class running strong."

"That's why there's only five Phalanxes. What happens if a first class family like yours has more than one child?"

"The key isn't allowed to have more than one child, but the rest of the group is forced to have at least two. The oldest child will then join the group once the parent can no longer be useful, and the next sibling will take their place if there is some reason they need to leave. That's why there needed to be testing among the second class to see who would join the Phalanxes, C.J. was never initiated and couldn't take my place when I left. It's also why I didn't get rid of my wife right away, we were supposed to have another child. For some reason she couldn't get pregnant again, so when she got suspicious about Ray's kidnapping the Conclave ordered me to get rid of her."

Kay studied his face, trying to read the expression. It was rather obvious he'd had lots of practice at hiding his emotions, his face was almost completely blank. He had never talked so much before that she knew of, he didn't seem to be a very talkative person. How had he lived so long being shut up like this? Even she had shown rebellion at one point or another during her time at Manticore, although she had paid for them.

They had been very quiet as they spoke, and apparently someone was getting curious upstairs. Footsteps could be heard crossing the floor, heading for the basement door. Kay was willing to bet anything that it was Zack. That asshole was going to pay for what he'd done. She walked and stood near the newly-built door, standing so she'd be out of sight when he opened it but it wouldn't hit her if he flung it wide open.

Ames watched her, seeing the look in her eyes. It was completely different from the curious one from before when he was telling her about the cult, now it was furious. He could remember when one of his men had shot that little boy off the back of her motorcycle. She had gone nuts on the spot. The way she'd killed his man and fired throughout the car, she'd even sent a chill down _his_ spine. If there was anyone he didn't want to truly hate him, it was her. Of course, he didn't think she hated him at all. She had more or less become adjusted to having him around.

* * *

Zack finally lost his patience, he had to find out what was going on downstairs. It had been quiet for way too long. What could be going on down there? It wasn't like Kay and White could be having a conversation or anything, she had always seemed to hate White. Well, she couldn't hate him so much if she could sleep with him willingly. 

He didn't even provide an explanation when he got up, they could think what they liked. He could feel Brin's eyes on his back as he left, it wouldn't be long before she followed him. He wished she could just mind her own damn business. Max would be furious if she ever found out what he'd done, and she would be who Brin would tell first.

The silence only seemed to deepen as he descended the stairs. If those two were talking to each other at all, he would have heard it. He strained his sensitive hearing as hard as he could, but there wasn't so much as a peep from the other side of the door. Now he was starting to feel nervous in spite of himself. He was no match for Kay on her own, and now she had White in there with her. They could both take him out in ten seconds flat if they really wanted to. He would just have to be especially careful, that was all.

No matter how careful he was trying to be, Zack could never have expected what happened. Just as he opened the door and started to step through, it came flying back and hit him in the face, effectively slamming him into the edge of the doorframe. Kay stepped out from behind the door, her eyes blazing.

"Nobody is going to recognize you by the time I'm through with you!"

She grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the wall, then buried her knee in his groin. By the way he doubled over, that last one had a definite effect. She punched him several times while he was against the wall, switching from fist to fist so fast it was hard for Ames and Brin, who was standing at the top of the stairs, to see them. Zack finally managed to block one of the punches and shove her back, wiping some blood off his face once he had some room.

Kay could see Brin out of the corner of her eye and got an idea. She knew Zack would never tell her sister what he had done, so she could do it for him. She just had to keep him from seeing Brin. She stood back to let Zack catch his breath.

"If you wanted to get back at me, you could have found a less disgusting way to do it!"

"Gee, thanks," Ames muttered under his breath. Kay almost grinned as she heard it. Zack's eyes didn't show any remorse.

"Why did it bother you so much? You chose to do it of your own free will before, why not when you're in heat and you needed it?"

Kay could see the confusion in Brin's eyes. She would have to clear up the details. She turned her attention back to Zack.

"If I wanted to fuck White again, I would have gone to him myself!" she growled lividly. Now full realization dawned in Brin's eyes. Maybe she should take this a step further. "The only thing I'm happy about is that you didn't take advantage of it yourself. Of course, you were thinking about it while you were keeping me in the mood on the way down the stairs!"

Max was standing by Brin now, and her face was a picture of pure horror. She would never have believed her own brother could do something like that. Kay just needed a little more. Where was Sandeman? The old man would finish off this interesting little scenario she was in.

Max was down by them in an instant, but her eyes were now on Ames. "You asshole, you did it again? I would think you wouldn't lower yourself to sleep with something not human! To think she had to do that another time!"

Ames smirked sarcastically. "I would have tried to get away, but I was chained up. Not that it bothered her. Oh, and by the way, it wasn't just another time. She was in heat a couple days."

Max was shaking in anger, but Kay grabbed her arm as she tried to get at him. "He's not worth it, and you couldn't have expected any different from him. Now Zack on the other hand, what were you expecting from him? I'm pretty sure it wasn't this."

That was true, Max realized. White was pretty much the scum of the earth as far as she was concerned, but Zack was supposed to be someone she could look up to and trust. Now she turned to him, her eyes telling him what he had coming.

"First you had Brin yourself, then you throw Kay in with the enemy. What would you have done if I came into heat? That thought scares me now, thank God I don't go into heat anymore." Her eyes still burning, she headed up the stairs. Zack didn't know what to say. He had actually been pretty close by during one of her earlier heat cycles, but had decided against going to her because he didn't want her to know he was watching her yet. That probably wouldn't be the best thing to tell her right now.

Kay had found that little confrontation interesting, but she wasn't quite through with Zack yet. She waited for him to look back at her, then coiled all her muscles and punched him so hard she heard his cheekbone crack. He was sent straight to the ground by the force of her blow, completely stunned. He knew she was strong, but he hadn't known how much. Even Brin and Ames hadn't expected that much power from her.

Kay knew what was different, he had royally pissed her off and she wasn't afraid of hurting him anymore. That was something that had always scared her about her strength, it was almost too much for her to handle. It was scary to lose control and fly off the deep end. She wasn't afraid of that anymore, she was more than willing to use all her strength. She could thank Zack for that one.

Seeing as how Zack wouldn't be able to come after her too quickly with how much she had dazed him, Kay shot up the stairs past Brin. Instead of shooting straight out the door, she headed upstairs to the bedrooms. Sandeman's wasn't too hard to find, the door was open and he was sitting on the bed. He looked up and seemed to surprised to see her.

"Where have you been?"

"Never mind that, you need to know something and you can't tell anyone you know. Ames is in the basement, and Zack is going to try and use him against you."

The look in the old man's eyes was pure ecstasy. "He's alive?"

"Yeah, but you can't let Zack know you know that. Understand?" When he nodded, she continued. "Have you heard anything else about the X2s?"

"No, but I did notice that the Phalanxes were at that crime scene."

Well, that was interesting. "Don't tell anyone what you know."

She opened his bedroom window and jumped easily to the ground. She had no idea how to get out of this place, but she wasn't going to be getting out alone. What Sandeman told her had given her a whole new idea. If she wasn't going to have Max, Brin, and Zack on her side to stop the Coming, she would do it without them.

* * *

Jondy grabbed Alec's arm as she saw Mole and Zeke walk out of the Rec Center. "Alec, what's he up to?" 

Alec rolled his eyes disgustedly after Mole's retreating back. "He wants to get out of here. I'll bet anything that it'll have a lot to do with the psy-ops. He'll have no problem convincing them to leave with him, it'll just make it harder for him to get others to leave as well if they know the psy-ops are going along."

Jondy frowned. "Do you think he's right? Do you think we shouldn't be locked up in here?"

"I never thought at all that we should be locked up in here. Mole is right about us needing to get out, but I don't like his idea of going into battle against regular people. It sounds like a suicide mission to me."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Why do you care? Why do you keep asking me what I think?"

"To see if it's anything like what I'm thinking."

"Is it?"

"I don't know, you haven't told me yet."

Alec sighed. "Fine, I think we should expose the cult to get some of the heat off us. After all, we didn't choose to be what we are, they did. They also want to destroy normal people. I think that should at least get some of the nation's attention."

"Do you realize how paranoid people will be?"

"They're already paranoid, they're keeping their eyes open for any of the X series. That's not really easy, considering the fact that we can have our barcodes removed. The Familiars do have a defining mark that they can't get rid of, that Caduceus mark on their left forearms."

"They can cover that up if they wear long sleeves."

"If we get people to believe it, then there will be people raising up shirt sleeves to check for it."

They kept talking like this, completely unaware that they were being watched. The only person who noticed the watcher was Mole as he turned back to look at the Rec Center. He smiled when he saw Alec and Jondy being spied on. Things just kept getting more and more interesting.


	9. Battle Plans

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 9: Battle Plans

Kay was watching the scene in the Rec Center this week with vague interest. She was in her usual spot, an old vent in the ceiling where she could watch without anyone noticing her unless they knew where to look. She had been hiding out at various points in Terminal City for fifteen days, and she knew that Zack thought she had gotten to the outside. That had been her original plan, but she had different ideas now.

Something had come back to her from one of her conversations with Sandeman. He'd said that the Familiars' one major weakness was that they tended to become cocky when they knew they were about to succeed at something. That explained to Kay why Thula had been at the crime scene a couple weeks ago. Although the Conclave didn't know that Ray was alive, they assumed that next year all the children would survive the initiation and it would be time for the Coming. That meant that the Phalanxes could be a little more careless. They weren't being completely reckless though, they were still protecting Thula fiercely.

It was time to change that. Kay knew the only way to stop the Coming would be to kill Thula and get rid of her body completely. Sandeman had made sure that Kay didn't hold the virus like Thula did, he'd added some of Max's blood to Kay as an infant to neutralize the pathogen. He had also told Kay that as soon as the Conclave had found out about her mother's betrayal, they had killed her. They had Sandeman as the leader for a brief period of time, until he was kicked out. Despite the fact that they were still in their early teens, Ames and Thula had been added to the group simply because the Phalanxes needed to be complete.

Sandeman was the only person Kay had been in contact with since she had gone into hiding. It was easy for her to sneak back into the house and talk to him, it never occurred to Zack that she might still be here. She had needed to speak to him so she could come up with a plan that would stop the Coming now, even though it probably wouldn't happen for another year. Even Sandeman didn't know everything that was going on in her head, it would have scared him.

Kay planned to get the Conclave started on the Coming right away. The reason for that was that Thula would be in the open much more often and she would be easier to get to. How Kay planned to get the Conclave started on the Coming was what Sandeman would be against. She didn't know quite how she was going to do it, but she planned to make sure the Familiars found out that Ray was alive.

Sandeman had also asked for her help in getting Ames out of here, but that didn't interest her at all. She would only do that if it could benefit her, but she didn't see how it could. Poor Sandeman would just have to figure out a different way to get his precious son free from his creations. The only thing on her mind was finishing off making her plans and then getting started on them. Lucky for her the only person other than Sandeman she figured could help her was also the only other one that knew she was here.

Even though they hadn't spoken face to face since he had seen her, Kay knew Mole had seen her spying on Jondy and Alec when they were talking. She had also heard about many of his plans to get out of Terminal City. So far they were coming along nicely. Zeke and several other psy-ops soldiers went out on a daily basis and did odd jobs, the majority of which were illegal and made a quick and large profit. The lot of them had raised nearly $100,000 since they had started going outside, which was quite the accomplishment these days. They had also been able to tell the easiest route out of Terminal City for a large group, which was through the sewers. It was normally too dangerous for one or two people to get out through the sewers because they would quickly be overwhelmed by the sector police waiting for them, but a large group would be able to get past them easily. The police would most likely run off when they saw the group approaching.

The only problem for Mole that Kay had noticed was that as soon as the other transgenics heard that the psy-ops were getting out with them, they lost interest and decided to stay unless Mole could come up with a secure plan. That was where Kay planned to help.

Going out into the real world meant having the ordinaries hate them, but Kay knew that could be avoided if the ordinaries' attention was elsewhere. It would have to be something big, and Kay planned to make sure it was the news about the cult coming out. The only problem with that was how were they going to prove it to everyone beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Familiars existed? They had done an almost flawless job of staying hidden for the past few millenniums, how were a few transgenics going to change that?

Kay watched as Mole walked into her sight, nodding slightly to let her know he could see her. He had done that every time he'd come in, basically to invite her to talk to him. He had some ideas for her as well. He knew that it would have to be someone other than him or the psy-ops to convince others to get out with him, and she was as good a choice as the next person. Even better, she would be more likely to agree. Kay decided to finally talk to him, he had been waiting patiently enough.

Mole nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around and saw Kay sitting in the shadows of the corner of the room. He had been wanting to talk to her, but he'd never expected her to come down. Well, it was just his lucky day. He walked over to the corner where she was sitting, making sure no one could see past his body to her.

"How nice to see you again. The last time I saw you, you were a blonde."

"I had to change the hair, blondes have more fun than I was interested in."

"Hmm, I think the red fits your personality better."

"Oh, how sweet."

Mole grinned, she was still the same person as last time, but something in her eyes had changed drastically. Something in them had been sweeter, for lack of a better word, the last time he'd seen her, but now that was gone completely. She had become hardened since then.

"I don't suppose you could help me with something."

"Only if you help me."

"Anything, as long as I get what I want."

"I want your help in catching Familiars."

"Catching them? Are you nuts? The whole lot of them will come after us! I don't want to go from one suicide mission to another!"

"I don't want a lot, just a couple. Enough to prove to people that they exist."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"It'll take the heat off us, won't it?"

Mole shrugged. "That's true, I guess. What are you going to do with the ones you catch?"

"Maybe some blood tests or something like that so people can see how they're different. Having a few of them will show that it isn't just a fluke or something like that."

"When do you want to get started on this?"

"After we make sure they know Ray is alive."

Mole's eyes widened. "Now you're getting a little too far ahead of me. Why would you want them to know that?"

"Because I want them to get started with the Coming. That'll draw them out into the open a lot more, especially the Phalanxes. They're the ones I want to catch."

Mole couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you fucking nuts? I've fought those guys, they're not exactly what I'd consider easy prey. How do you plan on doing this? Remember, it has to be good for me to agree with it."

"I'm much stronger than you think I am. I'll go after Thula first, the rest will stick around to try and protect her. I just need you and your people to hold them off long enough for me to knock her out, then I can help you guys with the rest of them. Don't look at me that way, I'm more than strong enough to do it. It's what I was made for."

"So you're telling me you were made to fight these people and stop their whole take-over-the-world plot?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure that's not just your ego talking?"

"Pretty sure."

"'Pretty sure' doesn't cut it for me."

Kay rolled her eyes and gestured towards the door, indicating that she wanted him to go outside with her. If he wasn't going to believe her, she would prove it to him. She pulled up the hood of the jacket she had stolen as they headed for the door, making sure no one saw her that could recognize her. Mole followed along behind, not knowing what was coming.

As soon as she had led him around the corner of the building so they were completely alone, Kay whirled and hit him so hard his feet came off the ground as he was sent flying into the brick wall. He heard a couple ribs crack as he hit the wall, and his head snapped off it so fast he had to work to stay conscious. He looked at her in shock as he slowly eased himself away from the wall to see if he could still walk.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"To prove I could. Did any of the Phalanxes get a hit on you like that?"

"No," Mole admitted. Now that he was getting over the shock of being hit that hard, he was impressed. Not only had she sent him flying when he had to have a good fifty pounds over her, but she had used her left arm to do it. Maybe she could pull off everything she was talking about.

"Now you have to help me," he said matter-of-factly.

Kay smiled sweetly. "What can I do to help a big tough guy like you?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "You have to convince others to leave with us. That means you need a good plan to give them so they'll feel safe leaving here."

"Fine."

"Oh, and I also want to be in charge of making sure the cult knows that kid is alive."

Kay didn't like the sound of that. "Why? I can do it fine on my own."

"Yeah, but if we can get things rolling as fast as possible, that'll be best. You'll be busy with the other transgenics, you won't have time to do anything. You may as well let me handle it."

Kay studied his face. She knew he could do it, but did she trust him enough for it? He might take things a little too far, or go about it the wrong way. She wasn't quite sure how he could do that, but knowing what little she did know about him she was sure he would find a way to screw things up. From what she had heard about him from the others during her time of spying, he had a long, sad history of making big mistakes.

"You'll have to tell me what you're going to do before you do it though, you got me?"

"Yes, mother."

"You have no idea how glad I am that I'm not your mother."

"Don't be a smartass. I can handle this and you'll know what I do beforehand, ok?"

Before she could answer, he turned and walked away. Kay still didn't feel quite right about this, but she didn't have a lot of choices. She turned and headed for Sandeman's house, she would have to tell him she was leaving sooner or later.

Mole waited until she was out of sight, then he followed along behind. He made sure to stay far enough back at all times so that she couldn't see him. He wanted to know who she had been going to for help, there was no way she could have stayed hidden by herself. After several minutes, she came to stop next to one of the houses near the edge of the city. Taking position, she leapt up and grabbed the windowsill of a window on the second floor. A few moments later, the window was opened and she climbed inside. Mole stood just below the window so he could hear what was being said.

Sandeman stepped back to give Kay room to climb through the window, still marveling at the ease with which she pulled herself in. Sometimes he worried about what he had turned her into, she might be too strong for even him to handle.

"What brings you here?"

"I figured I'd better tell you I might be leaving soon."

That was news to him. "Where are you going?"

"Just out of this place. If I'm ever going to do what you made me for, I'll have to get out."

"What about Ames?"

"What about him? I never said I would help you get him out. Why would I want to? I've had my share of bad times with your son, I don't feel like setting him loose in the world again."

Sandeman couldn't help feeling a little desperate. She was his only chance to free his son, if she wouldn't do it then Ames would most likely be killed by Zack. Zack had been angry enough lately to do it.

"Please consider helping him."

"I might, but don't hold your breath. Chances are he's not ever getting out of that basement." Kay had absolutely no interest in letting Ames out. It would be stupid of her to let an enemy loose just so he could turn around and shoot her in the back. That would be just like him too.

Sandeman sat down on his bed, his mind off wandering. No one else would help him, that was for sure. As much as he cared for the transgenics, creating them definitely had its downsides. They had almost no loyalty to him, but he didn't blame them after how they'd been treated.

Mole walked away from that particular side of the house and wandered around until he found a basement window. Squatting down he stuck his head in, it was already broken from Max, and saw the man sleeping while chained up in the corner. He smiled to himself, he had just figured out the perfect way to get his part of the plan done.

* * *

Max sat back and watched as Ray walked around the computer system in the Rec Center, his young eyes completely fascinated. _This place really isn't kid friendly, too bad there isn't a Playstation 4 here for him._ She hadn't been able to get any more out of him than Alec had already told her. All she knew was that Julie had been chased until she crashed, and that sounded like something the Familiars would do. The last thing she needed was for them to find out Ray was alive, she needed more time to figure out what to do about the Coming. She had dissuaded Logan from announcing the news about the cult over an Eyes Only broadcast simply because she worried that might cause them to start the Coming regardless of thinking Ray was dead. 

Brin had been a remarkable source of comfort for Max, she'd been there whenever she was needed. Jondy on the other hand was more of an annoyance. She kept telling Max that Mole couldn't be trusted as the guard of Freedom Pass, that he was planning an escape. Alec kept bugging her about that too. She found that ridiculous. Mole wasn't exactly a passive person, but he was a great help to her. He seemed to be the only person on good terms with both the freaks and the psy-ops soldiers. She didn't know how he had become friends with psy-ops, but she figured he could be some sort of peacemaker if there really was a need.

Zack had been someone she had avoided whenever possible. She couldn't believe he had done what he did to Kay. True, she was just as angry with Kay as he was, but she would never do that. Maybe Zack didn't understand because he didn't have heat cycles like the women, but to have someone take advantage of you when you were in heat was a very painful thing. The fact that he was family and had put her with the enemy was even worse. Even though Kay had slept with White willingly, Max had seen on her face that she hadn't been happy about it the second time. Max knew how she felt, it was one thing to do it of your own free will but to be thrown in with them when you couldn't control yourself was unthinkable.

Zack had thankfully kept to himself the past couple weeks. Jondy was the only person who talked to him, but then again she was the only person who didn't know what he'd done. Max had told Alec and Logan what had been happening with Kay and had dealt with their anger on her own. Logan had sat in shock when he heard what happened, then hung up the phone. The next time he called he hadn't even mentioned what she'd told him. Alec had taken it a little differently. If Max had told him where Kay was staying, he would have torn her apart. He had dealt with White before and it hurt him that she could do something like that.

Max hadn't told Jondy because she had the feeling she wouldn't be the most kind person in the world about it. She was the type to hold it over someone's head, and even though Max was angry with Kay she didn't want her sisters fighting like that. She'd probably find out anyway, she and Alec had been getting closer lately and he was bound to tell her. Max just didn't want to be around when that happened. What worried her though was that Alec and Jondy had just gone off together a few minutes ago.

Max looked up as Mole sauntered into the Rec Center, whistling cheerfully. She wasn't used to seeing him so happy, something really good must have happened.

"What's up?"

Mole was startled out of his happy thoughts by Max's voice. His eyes lit up when he saw that Ray was with her. "Nothing much, I guess I just woke up on the right side of the bed for once. What's going on here?"

"Ray was getting bored, so I brought him here to look around. He seems to like computer stuff. I bet that's what they were going to train him in," she said absent-mindedly, glancing towards the door to see if Jondy and Alec had come back yet. Mole noticed her gaze.

"Is there something you need to take care of?"

Max shrugged. "It's not a really big deal, it can wait. Besides, I need to watch Ray."

Mole made his face look as though he'd just gotten a brilliant idea. "Hey, why don't you let me watch him? I've met him before, even if it was only for a couple minutes. Besides, I don't think he's going anywhere." He gestured to where Ray was still running his fingers over the computer equipment.

Max sighed, he was right. "In that case, maybe I'll go take care of my business. Just don't let him out of your sight, ok?"

Mole gave a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

Max walked away, still feeling uneasy in the back of her mind. Mole had been almost too happy. Oh well, she wasn't going to worry about that now. How could he possible screw up babysitting a six-year-old kid?

Mole chuckled to himself as he watched Max's back moving away from him. She was far too naive, she should have realized long before now that he wasn't faithful to her. Now she had left him with exactly what he needed. He turned and walked over to Ray as soon as Max was out of sight, catching the boy completely off guard as he put a hand over his mouth roughly and pulled him to him.

"Don't make a sound," he hissed in Ray's ear. Making sure no one was looking, he pulled Ray out of the Rec Center and headed for Freedom Pass.

* * *

Jondy couldn't help but keep glancing at Alec with concern. He had been so quiet lately, and that definitely wasn't like him. He and Max had had a talk about two weeks ago and he'd been like this ever since, and she was getting sick of it. Why wouldn't he tell her what was going on? Sure, they weren't best friends, but they had gotten considerably closer. The things that made them hate each other were slightly out-ruled by the other things they had in common. Unfortunately, one of those things was not sharing their feelings. 

She finally stopped and grabbed his shoulder to make him stop. "Ok, what's going on? And don't tell me nothing because I've been able to tell."

Alec turned and looked down into her large blue eyes. She wasn't trying to be annoying, she genuinely wanted to know what was going on. He just didn't know if he should tell her. Part of it was his pride, he didn't want to tell her what Kay had done after he had spent all that time defending her to Jondy. Jondy was just the type of person to never let him forget that.

"You have to promise you're not going to say something like 'I told you so', ok?"

"Why would I say that?"

Alec sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, he was starting to lean towards telling her. He needed to talk to someone, and he just didn't consider Max, Brin, or Zack any of the people he would want to have a heart to heart with. Jondy would understand if he didn't want to talk about what he was feeling.

"It's about Kay."

That wasn't what Jondy was expecting. "Ok, go on."

"She's alive and she is, well _was_, here in Terminal City."

Now Jondy was completely confused. "Why wouldn't you be happy?"

Alec wasn't quite sure how to say this, then decided the frank way was the best. "She fucked White. And before you ask, no, she wasn't in heat and he didn't force her. She did it of her own free will."

Jondy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was angry inside at Kay for doing something so much like treason to the transgenics, but she decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Alec didn't need her flying off the handle. She just remained silent as he continued.

"That's not all, either. Zack dragged both her and White here and kept them locked up. I don't know if he meant it as revenge for him being thrown with Brin when she was in heat, but when Kay came into heat he threw her down with White so she slept with him again."

Jondy just couldn't believe this. Her first thought was that it wasn't a big deal, Zack had never liked Kay. Then she had to remind herself that that wasn't true, he had cared a great deal about her after seeing her when he lost his memory. If he could do that to someone he cared about, what would he do to the rest of them if they pissed him off? She couldn't care less about what had happened to Kay, but the fact that her brother was capable of something like that worried her.

Her attention was drawn back to Alec as he slammed his fist hard into the hallway wall. "Now I don't know whether I should hate her or feel sorry for her! She took off after her heat, so she must not have been very happy about it. Still, the fact that she willingly had sex with that bastard is one of the worst things a transgenic could do."

Jondy wasn't quite sure what to do, and it even surprised her when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. That was one thing about their friendship, there was absolutely no touching unless they got in a fight. She wasn't sure how he would take a hug, but he leaned into it and put his arms around her as well. They stood like that for a few minutes, Jondy just letting him feel what he needed to feel while holding someone. Even though he wasn't crying or anything like that, he was still shaking with anger and was unconsciously digging his fingers into her sides. She just bit her lip and didn't let it show that he was hurting her.

Alec wasn't quite sure why he did it, but he pulled his head back and kissed her. It wasn't a light kiss either, it was long and deep. He was searching for any kind of comfort he could get from her, and his body demanded this. He needed to feel close to someone and if she was willing then he would do it.

He pulled away from the kiss for a moment. "Are you sure about this?"

Jondy was completely breathless, she had never expected him to do that. The only problem was that she wasn't angry with him for doing it. This was more than she could have imagined. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. She had slept with guys while she was in heat, but never when she wasn't.

She surprised herself when she felt herself nodding. "Yeah, I'm sure."

That was all it took. He shoved open the door behind her, she hadn't even realized the entire time they'd been walking they'd been heading for his apartment. She couldn't help feeling nervous as he removed her jacket.

Alec felt her stiffen and he eased off his kissing slightly, making it much more sweet and gentle. He had the feeling she wasn't a very sexually active person, and he didn't want to scare her. That was what would happen if he just lost control like he almost had. He had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't just another girl he picked up at a bar, he needed to go easier on her.

Jondy relaxed when he stopped kissing her like he was attacking her mouth, that was what had made her nervous. She wanted to be with him, but not if he was going to take out his anger on her. Now she could tell he was more aware of what he was doing. That was when she reached behind his back and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Max walked to Alec's door, she had already been to Jondy's place. They hadn't been there, so Max just assumed they were here. She was about to knock on the door when she heard strange noises. She pressed her ear closer to the door, then pulled it back sharply as it hit her what she was hearing. She couldn't help but smile to herself. Well, if that was Alec's way of dealing with his pain, so be it. It felt a little strange to know it was her sister in there, but she had to remember that none of them were family and they had never considered Alec as part of the family. 

Max turned to head back to the Rec Center. She wondered how Mole was doing with Ray. There was no way they could have gotten into a lot of trouble, but she felt the need to check on them all the same. That little boy was her responsibility now.

The Rec Center was nearly empty, save for Luke and Dix. "Hey guys," she called out to them. "Where's Mole and Ray?"

Luke looked confused. "Were they here? I haven't seen them."

"But I passed you not too long after I left here. You must have gotten here only a minute or two after I left!"

Dix shrugged. "That's true, but they weren't here when we got here. There were only a couple people in here, but it wasn't either one of them."

Max couldn't believe it. "Oh God, where'd they go?" she murmured to herself.

* * *

Mole looked out the window. He and Ray were in an old warehouse near where Julie had crashed into the wall. It was the easiest place to hide for now, especially seeing as how it was empty and near Terminal City. He would need to go back in tonight for the other part of his plan. He turned and looked down at Ray, who he had knocked out as soon as the kid started trying to get attention from soldiers watching the city. 

Poor kid, he wouldn't like this part of the plan. Mole wasn't too concerned about it. Kay had said the cult needed to know he had survived the initiation, but she hadn't said they needed the kid back alive to start the Coming.


	10. Jeepers Creepers

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 10: Jeepers Creepers

Kay finally stepped out into the light of Elm Street. She wasn't too worried about other transgenics seeing her here, the psy-ops didn't even know who she was and there would be no other kinds here. She had seen during her time hiding in Terminal City how much the psy-ops were hated.

She had been able to find out from a few different people who the leader of this area was. Despite the fact that Max was in charge of Terminal City, these people had branched away and were a whole separate community from the others. The leader here was a man named Sate, and she had heard from rumors that guards at Manticore had named him that after Satan because that was the kind of person he was.

Some curious eyes peered out the windows as she passed by, but other than that the street was silent. She found it a little strange that no one was outside, but she wasn't going to concern herself with it. These people could do as they wished as long as it didn't affect her. She just hoped Sate agreed with her plan.

Kay was unable to suppress her grin when she reached his address. Someone had certainly set him up well. The number on the side of the house read 666, which was more than fitting. She wondered if he even knew what it meant. The doorbell echoed oddly through the house, giving it an almost haunting sound. For several moments there was no noise from the other side of the door, then suddenly it was thrown open and the house's lone occupant stood before her.

There was no one else he could be other than Sate, she couldn't imagine Manticore had made too many people like him. He stood nearly seven feet tall, so pale and thin he almost faded away. Then came the shock of his curly black hair and electric blue eyes. Kay had only seen eyes that color when people were wearing contacts. She hated how bright they looked, she had the feeling he could see right through her. He also seemed rather amused.

"How may I help you?" His voice was creepy as well, it was softer than most men's but somehow very deep. What gave her even more chills was the way he spoke. He almost made her think of Dracula, but the accent wasn't that strong. She also hated the way he cocked his head to the side and smiled slowly, revealing perfect white teeth and a strange glint in his eye. He was mocking her with his question, she had the feeling he already knew who she was.

Kay smiled right back at him. "Take a guess, I would think you already know."

Sate chuckled softly, sending more chills down her back. "My dear, mind reading was not my specialty. Telekinesis was."

My dear? This guy can't be more than two years older than me. "Ah, so you can move things with your mind, is that right? What kinds of things can you move?"

She felt the air get very cold around her and suddenly found herself propelled forward until he caught her, just barely keeping her from hitting him. He smiled down at her eerily. "All kinds of things."

Kay squirmed out of his grasp and took a good step back. He was over a foot taller than her and she had to admit that his demeanor intimidated her. Being that close to him wasn't a lot of fun either, his body was warmer than she was used to. She had heard somewhere that while X5s have a body temperature of 101.8, psy-ops' bodies were usually around 103.4. His might have even been more than that.

"You've made your point. Could I talk to you alone?"

Sate smiled again, still sending shivers down her spine. "We're already alone, but you can come in if you like."

Keeping an eye on him at all times, Kay stepped past him and through the open door. If she got the creeps from him, it was nothing compared to how his house made her feel. All the walls were painted black, and black draperies hung on the windows. It was the windows that really finished off the effect of the room, they were blood red and the light that came through them cast an eerie shadow on the room. It reminded her of an Edgar Allan Poe story she had read once, Masque of the Red Death. The prince in that story had a room exactly like this, but she had the feeling that Sate's whole house had this kind of decoration in it.

"Why do I feel that you don't like my unique sense of style?"

Kay jumped, he had been so quiet that she didn't realize he had moved to stand right behind her. "Unique is the only word for it, but I didn't come here to discuss your living arrangements. I need your help with getting some people out of Terminal City."

Sate sat down on the couch, which was also black, and folded his hands between his knees. His eyes scanned her slowly, as if sizing her up. After a few minutes, his soft voice broke the silence.

"Mole said he wanted to help us get out of this place so we could be fairly treated, now you want me to help you get out the very people who were condescending to us?" His voice held just a hint of anger, but it was enough to make Kay take an unconscious step backwards.

"Yes, we'll need them if we ever want to be treated as equals in the outside world."

He finally looked up and met her eyes. "Why do we need them? The ordinaries are more afraid of them than anyone else."

Kay sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room. She was a good fifteen feet away from him, which was just fine with her. "Actually, the ordinaries are more afraid of us, the X series and psy-ops. We can blend right into normal society and can make ourselves exactly like them so they can't even tell what we are. At least with the freaks they can see them coming."

"What do you propose?"

"The others refuse to leave with your kind, so I was wondering what you would think about scaring them out."

Sate's eyes lit up slyly and the corners of his mouth curled up. "You want me to make the other psy-ops scare out the freaks?"

"Exactly. We can trick them into thinking that you're taking over Terminal City, then once they're out Mole will be waiting to take them in. They'll have no choice but to go to him."

"Are you sure you trust him with that many well trained soldiers?" he asked with the air of someone who was talking to a child. Even his smile gave that feeling.

Kay's smile matched his perfectly. "I trust him more than I trust some others."

He chuckled again, the amusement back in his eyes. "I see, you don't trust me, is that right? What is the saying, you don't trust me as far as you can throw me?"

"That's the saying, but I reckon I could throw you at least the distance of this room, if not more. But I think you got the point and you're right, I don't trust you. I don't have any reason to right now."

He nodded with satisfaction. "Maybe there's more to you than I first gave you credit for. I might think about your proposal, but remember, I always ask for something in return."

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. For now I want you to decide quickly, we don't have a lot of time. Mole is probably going to be waiting for us tomorrow."

* * *

Zack sat on the roof of his and Sandeman's house. It was the best spot he could go to think right now, seeing as how everyone hated him right now. Not that he blamed them, he almost couldn't believe what he had done. He had still been angry with Kay and had gone back to his younger state of mind. Now that he could reflect, he wished he hadn't done anything nearly as horrible as what he actually did. He couldn't see how anyone would forgive him for this, especially Max and Brin. They were the two he really didn't want to have angry with him. It was a relief to have Jondy to talk to, but she wasn't the best person to talk to. She just didn't understand him. 

Sandeman hadn't treated him any differently, but Zack wasn't trying to be friendly. He couldn't stand the old man, he was the reason they were all in this mess. They all could have been normal people if it hadn't been for him. That was what Zack had always wanted, just to have a normal life. He had enjoyed his time on the farm and he missed it greatly, but it was time to move on. He had other things to do now so he needed to stop escaping from everything and get back to reality.

Footsteps below him made him lean over the edge of the roof and look down. Brin was walking past the house, not even bothering to look at it. She obviously was just going somewhere that happened to take her past here, otherwise she wouldn't be anywhere near this area. Zack was off the roof and on the ground behind her in an instant. He was sick of feeling so separated from her, she had always been someone who was close to him. Leaving her with Lydecker when her Progeria acted up had been the hardest thing he'd ever done, but having her choose not to talk to him was almost worse. At least last time it hadn't been of her own will.

"Hey," he muttered almost too quietly to be heard. He knew perfectly well that she could hear him.

Brin stopped and stood in her spot, not turning her head an inch. "What do you want?"

"Please, just talk to me. I can't take this."

Brin felt a little sad, he sounded sincere. She just hadn't quite forgiven him yet. Finally, she turned to face him.

"What are you going to do, try and explain why you handed my sister to the enemy when she was in heat? Try and explain how you could control yourself around her in that situation but not me?"

Zack was taken aback. He had never thought about that. "I know I can't explain what I did to Kay, but I can explain why I didn't lose control around her. I already knew beforehand that she was coming into heat, so I was prepared to deal with her. With you, I woke up and I could already smell you. The pheromones already had a grip by then, I wasn't expecting it at all.

"Is that an excuse? It sounds pretty pathetic to me. Sorry Zack, but I'm not in the mood to deal with you today."

Zack stood in silence as she walked away, not trying to go after her. He didn't want to push her farther away. As soon as she was out of sight, he slammed his fist into the wall of the house. He figured she probably had heard that, but he just didn't care anymore. He had made a huge mistake, and he was going to have to live with it. He turned and headed inside, it was going to be dark outside soon.

* * *

Jondy rolled over onto her stomach and looked at the clock by Alec's bed. Wow, she had slept the afternoon away. She turned her head and looked at Alec, sleeping like a baby. None of the pain that had been on his face earlier was there now, he looked completely innocent. From this point of view it was hard to believe he wasn't even human. 

A soft pounding down the hall gave away the approach of another X5. Only an X5 could run like that, but whoever it was must have been in a hurry because they were being so reckless. When it became clear that whoever it was was coming to Alec's apartment, Jondy slid out of the bed and pulled her clothes on quickly, then went to the door and opened it before it could be knocked on.

Max was surprised as she nearly hit Jondy in the face when she went to knock on the door, then recovered herself. "I need your help, Ray's gone!"

Jondy pressed a finger to her lips and stepped out into the hall so Alec could sleep. "Where could he have gone?"

"I don't know, but I think you guys were right. I left him with Mole for just a couple minutes and when I came back, they were both gone! No one's seen either of them all day. I finally decided to come get you guys. Is Alec sleeping or something?"

"Yeah, he's completely wiped out. He's had a tough couple of weeks. I'll see if I can help you."

Max sighed with relief. She had been trying to find Ray all day on her own, but she had finally realized she needed help. It was nice that she wouldn't have to panic on her own. She would have her sister here with her to panic with her. Max couldn't help but smile at the thought.

* * *

Alec couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he reached over to the other side of the bed and found it empty. Where had Jondy gone? He sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand as he stretched with the other. Hopefully it hadn't all been a dream, it had been so real. He flopped back down in the middle of the bed, then sniffed the air. No, it hadn't been a dream, he could still smell her. She must have had to leave for some reason. 

The sun was setting outside as he walked through the streets of Terminal City, not really sure where he was heading. He just felt the need to get out and stretch his legs. He'd been cooped up for far too long in this place. The air was a little chilly, but it didn't bother him any. Even the wind was starting to pick up. That was when he looked up and frowned, there was usually a lot less wind in a city. It surprised him when he realized he was walking through a more residential area of Terminal City. The only place he had seen like this was Elm Street, but he didn't wish to be seen there since others would accuse him of being a friend of the psy-ops. This part of the city was completely new to him, and was actually kind of nice.

From what he could see, no one lived in this area. All the houses appeared deserted and there was absolutely no sound that betrayed a living thing. Wait, he took that back. There was someone walking not too far behind him. Whirling around, he had to force himself to relax quickly so he didn't attack his follower.

"Mole, what are you doing here?"

Mole was at a loss for words, he hadn't meant to be seen. He just hadn't seen Alec until the last minute. "I, uh, just needed some air. This place is the best place to get it on my own since no one's here."

Alec nodded in agreement, but he could still sense something off about Mole's attitude. He had never heard Mole use the word 'uh' in all the time he'd known him. Mole usually had too much pride to show if he was uncertain.

"Where are you headed?" Mole asked finally to break the silence.

"Not really sure, does anyone live around here?"

"I've seen that X5 guy everyone's been angry at lately. He's around here a lot, even before everyone was mad at him. Isn't his name Zack?"

Alec nodded. "Maybe I'll go have a talk with him. I've got a couple things to sort out with him."

Mole tried hard not to show his anger as Alec walked away. Dammit, he didn't need Alec to see him going into that house, but it would be hard for him not to if he was in there. Hopefully he and Zack would have an argument and wouldn't notice him. From the way Alec had looked when Mole said Zack's name, that seemed to be a possibility.

Alec kept his eyes open for any sign of life, not that he believed Zack would just give away where he lived. It would be suicide for him right now if he did.

The house wouldn't have given itself away if it had just been Zack living there, but Sandeman lived there as well. Alec could see dirty dishes through the kitchen window. Zack usually washed them himself and quickly put them away, but he didn't always notice Sandeman's snacks during the day. It was almost as though Sandeman wanted someone to find them.

It was when Zack walked past the window that Alec went to the door. He needed to get this thing sorted out as soon as possible, and he found nothing wrong with getting it over with now. It was obvious Zack wasn't expecting company, he almost jumped in shock when he turned around and saw Alec standing no more than five feet behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you, why else?"

Zack frowned, he already had the feeling this wasn't going to be good. "About what?"

"What you did to Kay."

Yep, this wasn't going to be good. "I didn't do anything to her."

Alec smirked and his eyes flashed dangerously, reminding Zack of how Ben had been before Max broke his neck that first time. "I know you didn't do anything to her yourself, but you let White do plenty to her."

"It's not like she hadn't done it before. You should be angry with her, not me."

Alec's smirk faded and the anger stood out plainly in his eyes. "I _am_ angry with her, but I'm also angry with you. Seeing as how you're the only one I can get my hands on right now, I'll have to settle with being mad at you."

Zack was about to comment when Alec caught him off guard and punched him in the face as hard as he could. It sent the other man to the floor, but there was really no other damage. Zack slowly climbed back to his feet, surveying Alec to see what he would be up against. Alec really didn't look like much of a threat.

Zack gathered up his strength and lunged at Alec, sending both of them out the open door. Alec hadn't expected it, but he immediately got his wits together and fought back. Soon they were both on the ground, rolling around and hitting each other. No one watching this would have thought they were transgenics, they just looked like a couple guys having a normal fight.

Mole couldn't help but be amused at the sight. If his kind had ever had any dignity, it was gone now. "X series," he muttered too quietly for them to hear. Making sure they didn't see him, he slid inside the house and moved silently to the basement door. His hand moved inside his coat pocket, making sure the chloroform was still there. He knew it would take longer for it to kick in, but it would still work. He was pretty sure White would be tied up.

* * *

Ames tried to make himself more comfortable, or as comfortable as he could get on the cold floor. The cold hardly even affected him anymore, his body had started to adjust to it. He just hoped he didn't have frostbite or something on his back. 

Lately he had pretty much given up any hope of getting out of here. As far as he knew, his father didn't know he was down here and he was sure none of the transgenics that knew of his presence felt like letting him out. He figured Zack would kill him soon if he wasn't going to use him for anything else. Actually, he was pretty sure that was what Zack was doing now. He hadn't been given food in two days, and Zack was showing no signs of wanting to come down. His body was starting to show definite signs of dehydration by now, and he had the feeling Zack was just going to leave him here until he died.

Ames spent most of his time thinking about Ray and Wendy. He constantly regretted killing his wife, she had been his escape from the world. He had been able to come home every day and just be a normal person around her, he didn't have to assume the role of a soldier or federal agent, he didn't have to be perfect. She had loved him regardless of whether or not he screwed up, he could see in her eyes even as he killed her that she still loved him. He wished he could have said something to her, but he didn't want to make it any harder for either of them than it already was.

Ray's little face was always in his mind also. That had been his other release, but Ray was something he almost depended on. Ray was to be almost like his partner, he would help Ames rebuild the honor of the family name and they could stay close. That had always been his dream and he had clung to it desperately as he watched his son grow up, but now he just wished he had worked to keep his son alive. At the time he had thought nothing of having his son endure the initiation, there had never been a death in his family from it since the cult had started. That was what made it so hard, he had just never expected to lose his son.

Something that troubled Ames was how much he had changed. He was more aware of his emotions, and he wasn't ashamed that he had them. The need for someone to understand him was suddenly all too great, he had felt it that night in the hotel when he had made love to Kay. That bugged him too. For one thing, he had stopped thinking of her as a number and her name was the first thing that came to mind whenever he pictured her. The other thing that bothered him was that whenever he remembered that night, he kept labeling it 'making love' rather than just plain sex. He had never thought of it that way even when he was married to Wendy.

Maybe it was the fact that Kay understood him and almost accepted him. At first she had been completely against him, but then she had just started talking to him and joking around. It may have been more out of necessity than anything else, but nevertheless she had still started treating him like a person rather than an enemy. The problem was that he had done the same thing.

A loud creak on the stairs brought his head up. At first he thought it was just his imagination, but then he heard it again, this time closer. Did Zack just get sick of waiting for him to die? That seemed like the most likely possibility right now, and he was almost glad for it. There just didn't seem to be any point to living any more. He couldn't run on his anger for 452 because he found out his son was dead. Now it wasn't like he had to find out from her where he was, and it wasn't her fault Ray was dead, it was his.

When the door opened, Ames certainly hadn't expected to see Mole standing there. He recognized him immediately, then remembered nervously that he had managed to kick the shit out of him at JamPony. That might not work in his favor right now.

Mole smiled wryly, enjoying seeing White completely helpless. "How nice to see you again. The pleasure is all mine, believe me."

Ames clenched his teeth together as Mole's boot connected with his ribs, cracking a couple. It wasn't the first time he had broken some ribs, but he was usually in better shape to deal with it than he was now. Mole kept kicking, aiming for Ames's weakest parts. Ames found his stomach, ribs, face, and groin all being pummeled until his entire body had a terrible throb to it. It felt like someone had dropped a tractor on him once or twice, hell, twenty times.

Mole didn't stop until he was satisfied by the damage to White's body. He glanced up the stairs, making sure Alec and Zack weren't coming back down. Then he pulled the chloroform out of his pocket and started pouring it onto a rag in his hand. Ten minutes later, he was carrying White's body out of Terminal City.

* * *

Kay was more than ready to leave Sate's house, it hadn't been a fun visit. She wouldn't be coming back if she could help it. Hopefully she could trust him to follow through on her plan, but she wasn't sure how much she should let herself depend on him. He didn't seem like the most honorable type of guy. 

Sate's amused smile was still on his face as they reached the door. "I hope I'll be seeing you soon."

Kay smiled sweetly up at him. "Dear God, I hope not."

He simply chuckled and opened the door for her, his electric blue eyes watching her as she walked away. He found her to be better entertainment than anyone else he had dealt with in his life. She had more spirit than the other transgenics, but even he could tell she was guarding herself at all times. Something must have happened to her that she wasn't happy about, and he had the feeling it would be worth his time to find out.

Kay never felt happier as she finally was out of sight of Sate's door. It surprised her when she let out a whoosh of air, almost like she'd been holding her breath nearly the entire time she was in there. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders as soon as she was away from him, he just had that dooming effect on people. Thank God she was away from that place. Now she just had to find Mole and see when he would be starting his plan and what he would be doing.

Her path took her straight through the neighborhood where Zack had been keeping her. She kept to the shadows whenever possible, which wasn't too hard considering it was almost pitch black out by now. She just hoped she didn't come across someone, she wasn't in the mood to have to kick someone's ass right now. She paused for a moment, listening hard. From the sounds coming from the next street, someone else was doing the ass-kicking.

Kay poked her head around the side of the house closest to her. It surprised her when she saw that it was Alec and Zack fighting. At first she felt a surge of excitement when she saw Alec, then she had to remind herself that he wasn't Ben. That had happened nearly every time she'd seen him around. What could those two be fighting about? She didn't have to wait long before someone else asked that very same question.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Both men paused and stood up as Max and Jondy approached. Max was the one who had spoken, and she didn't look too happy right now.

"Ray is missing and you two are rolling around like a couple of schoolboys!"

Zack nearly growled as he turned and headed for his house, calling over his shoulder, "He can tell you!"

Alec's eyes coldly kept on Zack's back as he entered his house, then he turned to face Max. "We just had a little disagreement."

Max rolled her eyes. "Sure, like I'm gonna believe that. I didn't come out of the test tube yesterday, you know!"

Alec opened his mouth and was about to shoot something back at her when Zack came back out of the house.

"He's gone!"

Max glared at him. "Who? Sandeman?"

He shook his head. "No, White!"

Max's face paled. "Oh God, did he get loose and take Ray? Maybe that's why I can't find Mole anywhere. I left him with Ray this morning and they've both been missing all day. What if White hurt him?"

Alec raised an eyebrow. "He couldn't have been missing all day, I saw him just a little while ago. I ran into him in this area while I was coming to beat the crap out of Zack."

Max shook her head in confusion. "But why didn't he tell me what he did with Ray?"

Kay clenched her fists and crept from house to house until she was far enough away from the group to walk freely. She wasn't sure exactly what Mole was up to, but it apparently wasn't going to be something she would agree with.


	11. Change With The Tides

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 11: Change With The Tides

Mole sneered slightly and ran a finger over White's ribs. They were sticking so far out of the guy's body that it was hard to believe he was still alive. Zack apparently hadn't been feeding him much even before he started starving him. Oh well, it was what the bastard deserved.

Shivering from the cold breeze, Mole finished fastening White to the narrow clock tower on the top of the Seattle Times Building. He loved this place, it had been built in 2007 for the Seattle Times. Just to enforce their name perhaps, they had built a tiny clock tower on top of it that was about 20 feet tall and the width of three people. It was rather tiny for sitting on top of a 50 story building, but it was serving a good purpose right now. Mole doubted the people who'd designed it had planned for someone to be tied to it, but that's what it was good for.

Mole turned suddenly when he heard a movement behind him, then relaxed. Ray was just having a nightmare and was moving in his sleep. Mole had drugged him a couple times throughout the night to keep him asleep, he didn't need the kid seeing his dad just yet. That time would come soon enough. Mole was fairly sure White would never forget seeing his kid thrown off the top of a building this tall, so at least the Conclave should wind up hearing about it. That was what Kay had wanted and that was what she would get. She may not have intended for the cult to find out about Ray surviving the initiation in this way, but they would find out all the same.

* * *

Kay could hardly see where she was going through her anger. She had made it clear to Mole that she was to be informed about his plan before he started it so she could approve it. Since he didn't obey that rule, she was pretty sure he must have thought she wouldn't approve of it. In that case she wasn't going to let him finish it. She had absolutely no clue where he had gone but it couldn't be too far. He would still want to be around when the other transgenics ran out of Terminal City. 

The sound of one of the many TVs outside reached her ears. It was a news broadcast that had several people standing around the television laughing. Kay slowed down in the car she'd hotwired and rolled down the window so she could hear the broadcast.

"The janitorial staff of the Seattle Times have been fired because of supposed drug use. All were suffering from hallucinations a few hours ago when they were on the night shift on the top floor of the Seattle Times Building. One of the janitors is quoted to have said 'A giant lizard-man with a cigar was carrying a man in sweatpants and a little boy down the hall.' The police are furious to have been called out in the middle of the night only to find absolutely nothing in the entire building. It was then they found that all the janitors had been smoking marijuana and two of them have claimed to have seen transgenics before. All in all, it's an embarrassing situation for the Seattle Times."

While people by the TV were cracking up, Kay turned the car around and headed for the Seattle Times Building.

* * *

Sate's long legs carried him quickly through Terminal City. He barely noticed the many younger transgenics who ran into side alleys to avoid him when they saw him coming, he could care less about them. What he really wanted was at the Rec Center. 

Max looked up and couldn't prevent the chill from going down her spine as she saw the tall young man walking towards her. She had been talking to Dix about security, but the eyes of the stranger completely distracted her. Why was he looking at her like that? It was as though he was looking straight through her and found whatever he saw to be funny. The amusement at her reaction to him was clear on his face, as was how he felt about the other transgenics in the room. He looked thoroughly disgusted to be around them.

Max stood up as straight as she could, not putting even a dent in the difference between their heights. "Who are you?"

Sate came to a stop only about a foot away, causing Max to take a large step backwards. "My name's Sate. I assume you're Max?"

Max nodded, seeing Dix step back nervously out of the corner of her eye. "What do you want?"

Now his smile turned frightening. "I want control."

Max couldn't even get a word out to express her confusion before she went flying backwards into Dix. The next thing that went was the table they'd been standing by, it was sent crashing into a group of freaks playing dice. Luke went sliding across the floor into Max and Dix, causing them all to crash to the floor. Lights started exploding, keyboards smashed through the screens of their computers, and windows shattered inwards. Anything that could be moved was used to destroy something else. Max heard a loud snap somewhere nearby, but couldn't tell what it was. Then suddenly, everything was quiet.

Lifting herself up onto her elbows slowly, Max looked around the room. It looked like a tornado had ripped through here, not to mention how it felt. She could hear whimpering somewhere in the rubble, but it was impossible to tell who it was. Luke eased himself out from under Max and Dix, putting his hand up to the open wound on his head. That was when Max looked down at Dix and had to cover her mouth before she vomited. Dix's head had been turned around backwards. It was still facing up towards them, but his body was laying on its stomach. Max and Luke scrambled backwards, Luke looking like he could pass out. Turning her head away from the sight, Max scanned the room for anyone else that didn't appear to be moving. From what she could see, the rest were alright. Shaken, but alright. Then she whipped her head around sharply.

"Where did he go?"

Luke was so horrified by the sight of Dix that he didn't understand what she meant. "Who?"

"That man, Sate!"

Luke looked around, carefully avoiding bringing his eyes back down to Dix. "It looks like he left before all the fun started."

Max shook her head. "He couldn't have. He said something to me just before it started. I just can't remember when he left."

Another voice broke through the confusion. "What happened here? Who's crying?"

Brin stepped over the shards of glass that lay scattered in front of the entrance to the Rec Center and looked around. Alec and Jondy weren't too far behind her, looking every bit as shocked as she was about the damage. Alec paused for a moment, then headed over to where there was a pile of wood, it was where most of the remnants of the tables had wound up. Digging his fingers into the largest board, he pried it away to reveal a little cat-like girl curled up in a ball and crying. She could only have been about four years old. Alec leaned down and lifted her into his arms, not quite knowing what to do with her.

"Uh, could someone give me a hand here? I'm not exactly Daddy material."

The girl started kicking and screaming in his arms, almost to the point where he would have dropped her if Zack hadn't suddenly pulled her from him. Alec glared at him, but Zack completely ignored him. Right now he was focused on the child. He ran his fingers through her hair gently and softly shushed her. After a couple minutes, she relaxed in his arms and leaned against him, still crying.

"What's wrong? What did you see?" he whispered tenderly, trying not to scare her again.

"Bad man," she whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder. Zack couldn't help but be confused about that, he hadn't been here when everything had happened. He had just come as fast as he could when he heard the commotion.

"Who's a bad man?"

"The man who made things move with his eyes."

Zack turned to Max questioningly, she just shrugged. She was every bit as confused as he was. She walked over to them and leaned in close to the girl's head. "What did he look like?"

"Big," was all they got out of her. Realization started to dawn in Max's eyes.

"Did he have scary eyes?"

The girl nodded, then gripped Zack's neck as tightly as she could. He lowered himself down so he was sitting on the floor and she was in his lap, still shaking. Then he looked up at Max.

"Do you know who she's talking about?"

Max nodded, slowly clenching and unclenching her fists. "There was a guy who came here to talk to me. He said his name was Sate, then he said he wanted control. That was when things went nuts."

Alec frowned and crossed his arms. "Must have been a psy-ops. What did he mean when he said he wanted control?"

With a shrug, Max plopped herself down on the floor so she could sit Indian-style next to Zack and pat the little girl on the back. "I can only assume he meant he wanted to take over, but I can't see why he would want to. None of the other people here like the psy-ops, he wouldn't be able to control them."

Alec sat down next to her, leaving enough room for Jondy as she lowered herself down too. "Can you tell me what he looked like? I could tell you who pretty much all the psy-ops are, I saw all of them during my little stay in that area of Manticore."

"Well, you couldn't miss him, he was really tall with curly black hair and blue eyes that can scare the living daylights out of anyone, as you can see." She gestured to the girl, who still hadn't loosened her hold on Zack's neck.

Alec's brow furrowed as he thought. "I don't remember anyone like that. Trust me, from that description I should be able to. He must be transgenic because he's from psy-ops, but I don't remember him."

Max shrugged. "Don't lose sleep over it, he might have been out on a mission when you were there. Besides, all that matters now is getting him out of here."

Nobody saw Zeke slip out of the Rec Center and head in the same direction he'd seen Sate go.

* * *

Kay pulled up next to the Seattle Times Building and let her eyes wander over it. The place was huge, Mole could be anywhere in there. Hopefully his plan hadn't started yet. She wanted to rip him apart first. 

All the doors were locked when she tried them, since the janitors weren't there the building was locked up and empty. Well, empty with the exception of Mole, Ray, and Ames. She finally pulled out her cell phone, she knew Mole had one. She just hoped he hadn't turned it off. Thank God he hadn't.

"Hello?"

"Mole, dammit, where are you? I know you have Ray and White, but what are you gonna do? You'd better tell me or I'll make sure you never get any other transgenic help, not even from any psy-ops."

She was ready to scream when he abruptly hung up the phone. That hadn't been of any help. She was about to try and break her way into the building when she paused and thought for a moment. There had been a lot of background noise when he answered his phone, more than was natural for an empty building. It had sounded like wind. She looked straight up to the top of the building. From here she couldn't see anything, but she was sure now that Mole had to be on the roof.

The smooth outside of the Seattle Times Building tended to make it rather difficult to climb, but Kay was practically a monkey when it came to climbing. She could scale it easily, it would just take a little longer than usual. It was hard to get a grip on the outside, but she grabbed each windowsill as she hurled herself upwards. She struggled to stay as quiet as possible, she didn't want Mole to know beforehand that she was coming. She just hoped he was actually up there, she would hate to have climbed all that way for nothing.

Kay had just let her fingers get a good grip on the side of the roof when she heard something. Figuring she could hold on for a while, she decided to stay where she was for a little bit.

The cold wind sent chills through Ames, but he was warmer now than he was before in the basement. That was the first thing he noticed when he came back to consciousness. The second thing was that he was now tied up rather than tied down. He hadn't been upright in a couple weeks, it felt amazingly good even though he wasn't free.

Mole was sitting on the edge of the roof, watching him curiously. "Ah, you're finally awake, hmm? Took you long enough."

Ames sneered. "You gave me enough chloroform to knock out a buffalo, what did you expect?"

Mole tsk-tsked mockingly. "Sarcasm is not a good thing when you don't have the advantage. You should know that of all people."

Ames's eyes narrowed as Mole walked past him until he was directly behind him. Ames could hear him moving around back there, but he couldn't figure out what was going on. His face went dead white when he saw what Mole held in his hands as he came back around to Ames' field of vision.

Kay could hear a low, groggy moan, it sounded like Ray. It sounded like he was just waking up from something, so he must not have known who he was with just yet. Bracing her foot on the windowsill below her, she got as good of a grip as she could with one hand and pulled out her phone with the other. Pressing redial, she put it up next to her ear and lowered herself down as far as she could. She could hear Mole's phone ringing above her.

"Is it you again?"

"Who did you think it was, asshole, the tooth fairy? I want to know what you're doing with Ray right now!" she hissed. Her voice was quiet enough that Mole couldn't tell her voice was also coming from only about twenty feet away, but loud enough so she knew Ames heard her through the phone.

Ames couldn't believe it, she had told him to his face that Ray was dead. He had believed her, there was no reason not to. What reason did she have to lie to him about his son? It had felt like he died that day, now it had all been a lie? Anger that was worse than he had felt for 452 coursed through him like a fire. She had lied straight to his face, then she had fucked him! The thought of how easily she had used him completely humiliated him.

Mole rolled his eyes and hung up the phone again, this time turning it off before putting it back in his pocket. Ray was held by one of his arms, which he wasn't yet awake enough to try and pull away from. When his eyes opened all the way, they widened further.

"Dad!"

Ames felt a pang go through his stomach, he wanted to get to his son so badly, but he wasn't going anywhere right now. Ray squirmed in Mole's grip and Mole slammed his fist into the kid's head. He wasn't quite knocked unconscious, but pretty close. Ames nearly broke out of his restraints in his desperation to reach Ray. He couldn't stand to see his son hurt.

Kay fumbled around the window she was next to, looking for a way into the building. Finally, she saw a window a couple over from the one she was next to that was slightly open. She figured she could reach it pretty quickly.

Mole walked over to the very edge of the roof with Ray in his hands, then held him over the edge. Ray's eyes easily spotted Kay right beneath him, but she held a finger to her lips and made an impression of screaming, then motioned for him to keep going. Ray may have been a young kid, but he was pretty smart for being a Familiar. He immediately resumed his kicking and screaming, making things as difficult as possible for Mole.

The restraints holding Ames back weren't going to last long with the way he was fighting them. He could already see what was going to happen. He just hoped that Mole was planning to bargain with him for something so he would get the chance to save his son. He would give anything so Ray wouldn't die, even his own life. He knew life wouldn't be worth living. That was how he had felt after Kay had told him Ray was dead, so he had lived the time after that in a daze. He had tried to do what the Conclave ordered, then he had just put up with being a hostage. It didn't seem to matter anymore. Now it mattered more than ever.

Mole smiled at the look on Ames's face, he liked seeing the enemy squirm. "Too bad you won't get the chance to let your people know they could have already been controlling the world." He said that knowing perfectly well that the first thing Ames would do when he was free would be to tell the Conclave that his son had survived the initiation. Waiting just long enough for Ames to think that he wasn't really going to do it, he abruptly let go of Ray.

Now the restraints actually broke and Ames lunged for Mole's throat. Mole didn't even have time to put up his arms before he found himself freefalling towards the ground, barely catching a glimpse of Kay slipping into the open window with Ray in her arms before he plummeted the rest of the way down to the street.

Kay pulled Ray's head away from the scene, she didn't need him seeing that kind of stuff. He was only six, after all. He was perfectly relaxed in her arms, he had known from the moment he'd seen her that he would be alright. Now he just wanted to go up and see his father.

As Kay shut the window, he whispered in her ear, "Can I go see Dad now?" Kay looked at him a little sadly. The poor kid wasn't likely to see his dad ever again, she knew that. Ray would probably make it through the war she could feel coming, but Ames probably wouldn't. A part of her wanted to go up to the roof and let the two see each other again, but then her soldier side kicked in. That would be a poor strategical move on her part, it would be letting her emotions get the better of her. Emotions were something she didn't want to deal with ever again.

* * *

The Rec Center was filled with people milling around, trying to fix things up. They could all see that this would take quite a bit of repair and most of them didn't have the knowledge to do it, especially the computer repairs. They would need whole new computers, but most of the computer equipment in Terminal City had been given to Logan so he could get started on his Eyes Only operations again. Now they would need his help to get back on their feet, even Max knew that. 

Most of the rubble had been cleared out and new tables and chairs were being brought in. Alec, Max, Jondy, and Brin had been busy working, but Zack hadn't been able to leave the little girl's side. She had told him her name was Chelsea, but that was all the talking she had done. She hadn't let him go anywhere, crying whenever he tried to leave her with someone else. He would have rather been helping everyone else clean up, but he was needed right here. They had found her mother's body with some others among the strewn debris. Right now Luke had been sent to find out where someone would take Chelsea in, Max had felt the need to get him somewhere other than here after he saw Dix's body.

Alec and Jondy were working at straightening out the railing that had been near the computers. Brin was trying to help, but she really wasn't of much use. Finally, Jondy paused and grabbed her arm.

"Why don't you go take a break? Alec and I can handle this, and it looks like the work around here is going to be wrapping up for the night pretty soon."

Brin put her hands on her hips. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Why don't you go help Zack keep an eye on Chelsea?"

Brin looked down where Chelsea was now asleep in Zack's arms. "It doesn't look like he needs any help."

Jondy put her hands on her hips as well, doing a perfect impression of Brin. "You know what I mean. You two have a lot more to sort out than anyone else."

"I just can't talk to him yet. You don't know why it hurts so much."

"What hurts?"

"He managed to control himself around Kay when he threw her with White during her heat cycle, but he couldn't control himself around me. Was he just waiting to take advantage of me or something?"

Jondy's mouth dropped open. "How could you even think that? Zack may be a little harsh at times, but he would never do something like that. He loves us, Brin, he wouldn't hurt us like that. Kay was just different. He never felt the same way about her as he feels about us. He would never take advantage of you. Have you even brought this up to him?"

"Yeah, but he said something like he was prepared to deal with Kay but I was just thrown on him when he wasn't expecting it."

Alec stopped working for a moment. "That would do it. I know it would for me, anyways. Don't think that just because nothing happened between Zack and Kay didn't mean that he wasn't dying to. It probably took every bit of willpower he had to keep from sleeping with her himself. Those pheromones are powerful things."

Jondy gave Brin a small push. "Just go down and talk to him. I can't stand to see you guys like this."

Brin sighed and headed down the stairs. "Fine, but if a fight gets started you're going to regret this."

Jondy grinned. "I can handle you. Even if I can't, I have Alec to back me up."

"I could take you and pretty boy at the same time."

Alec held a hand to his heart. "She called me pretty boy, I'm touched!"

Brin laughed as she headed across the floor to where Zack was sitting with Chelsea. She gently plopped down beside him, biting her lip nervously when he didn't even acknowledge her presence.

"I didn't know you were so good with kids."

He kept his eyes on Chelsea's tiny form curled up in his lap. "I took care of the rest of you, I've had lots of practice."

"You've always done a good job."

Zack finally looked up into her eyes, his own being a bit questioning. He wasn't sure if this meant they were on speaking terms again, but he truly hoped so. "I never thought so, but I must have done something right. Look how you turned out."

Brin blushed slightly, he was trying to score points so she would stop hating him. He could be an insensitive jerk at many times, but he could also turn on a dime and become the biggest sweetheart. She was one of the few people who had been fortunate enough to see that side of him.

Max looked down at them from above, feeling a little better now that they were talking again. It was hard to see their family split up like it had been. True, she hadn't been Zack's biggest fan for a while, but she eventually had to forgive him. It was impossible to hate him for long, he had done so much for them in the past.

She had never felt more alone than she did right now. She didn't have control over anything anymore. Dix was dead and Mole was missing, they had been two people she had greatly depended on for help. She had been on bad terms with Zack, Jondy and Alec were focusing more on each other, Logan wasn't here, and now Brin would probably become good friends with Zack again and spend more time with him like she had before. Not to mention that Luke was hurting too much over his best friend's death to be of much help and Sate wanted to take over Terminal City. If she was honest with herself, she realized that there really wasn't much now that she could do to stop it if Sate did try to take over the city.

It felt like the whole world was slowly crashing down around her. She didn't even have control over White and Ray anymore. For all she knew, the Coming would be starting any day now and there would be nothing she could do about it. Feeling completely helpless was something that was new to Max, she had always had some level of control in the past. It was so frustrating to have nothing to do but watch the struggle and hope things came out in your favor.

Brin looked up and saw Max standing alone, arms crossed and head down. She got to her feet and held up a finger to show she would be back in a minute, then walked over to her sister.

"What's up, little sis?"

"I'm just tired."

"Why don't you go home and sleep?"

"I didn't mean tired like that, I just meant I'm tired of everything. I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of losing our people, and I'm tired of being hated by people that just over a month ago liked me or at least tolerated me. You know, maybe I'll take your suggestion and go home and get some rest. I usually don't need it, but I think I'm burning low on fuel lately."

Brin patted her shoulder. "Give me a second to say goodbye to Zack and I'll come with you."

Max shook her head fervently. "No, you and Zack really need to get on track again. You two were really good friends before, you need to work on getting that back. Besides, I'd rather be alone tonight."

"Where will I sleep?"

"I'm sure Zack would let you have your old bed back at the house you were staying at."

"Yeah, he probably would. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Max forced a smile. "Don't worry, I won't self-destruct or anything while you're not watching over me. I'll be fine, you go on."

Brin sighed and gave her sister a hug, then walked back down to Zack. Max ran a hand back through her long hair and walked out the door.

Zack looked up as Max left, then turned to Brin who had taken her place next to him again. "Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine, she's just a little worn out."

He nodded understandingly, then slowly got to his feet. "I suppose I should head back home. I guess until Luke finds a place for her to stay, she'll be staying with me. There's plenty of room at the house and I'm sure Sandeman won't mind cooking for one more."

"How about two more?"

Zack looked up in surprise. "Does that mean you're moving back in?"

She smiled. "You'd better believe it."

He returned the smile. "Let's go then."

* * *

Kay walked out the front doors of the Seattle Times Building, covering Ray's eyes so he didn't see what was left of Mole's body. There was already a large group of people around him even though it wasn't even dawn, but thankfully they were all too preoccupied with him to see the two people slipping away in the car that no one had bothered to question the presence of. 

Poking her head out the window as she pulled away, Kay could see Ames climbing down the side of the building, making sure he was just out of sight of the group of people. He was going slower than usual, but Kay knew Zack hadn't been taking very good care of him. She knew he would still get down and go to the cult, which was what she wanted. The problem was that he also knew Ray hadn't died at the initiation and he would later find out that Ray hadn't died here either. After all, there was no body. That would lead him to her, he knew she had been looking for them. That just gave her more problems.

The car was left to sit on a deserted street a couple blocks away from a shabby, old apartment building. Ray was nearly asleep in Kay's arms as she walked, so she just tried to walk as carefully as possible so she didn't wake him up. Glancing at the list of occupants down on the first floor, Kay headed up to the third floor by way of the stairs. She didn't trust elevators these days.

They finally reached the door she wanted. Knocking gently enough so she wouldn't disturb Ray but loudly enough so she knew the apartment's lone occupant would hear her, she waited for the door to be answered. When the door opened, she could see the surprised look on his face at who his visitor was.

"We need your help."

* * *

Brin sat down on her old bed, feeling happy to be back. She had liked this house when Zack found it, it was just nice to be able to lay down here again. She could hear Zack putting Chelsea to sleep in the next room. Sandeman's eyes had lit up at seeing the little girl. She may not have been normal-looking, but she was still just a little girl. Brin flopped back and spread out her legs so she took up the whole bed. She raised her head to see Zack standing in the doorway, an uncharacteristic grin on his face. 

"The second you get a big enough bed, you have to work harder to fill up every inch of it, don't you?"

She grinned back at him. "Yeah, that's pretty much how it works. What can I say, I'm a bed hog."

He chuckled and came in to sit down on the edge of her bed. She didn't move an inch, so he didn't have much room. The look on her face let him know she was being funny, not trying to push him away.

"Are things okay again?"

Brin sighed and sat up. "I'm still a little mad about some stuff, but you can't really do anything about that. I guess things are pretty much back to normal."

He smiled gently. "Good." He leaned forward and pulled her into a hug, he'd been dying to feel close to someone after being kept so separate. Then he pulled back and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Brin offered a little wave as he walked out of the room, then lay down and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Sate gazed out at the street from his house. It had felt good to use his abilities like that earlier, it was like going out for a walk after weeks of laying down. The only thing he'd been able to use his telekinesis for lately was making the salt-shaker come to him from across the room because he forgot to bring it to the table. That didn't exactly keep his skills honed to perfection. Still, they worked pretty well for not having been used in a while. Not to mention the fact that it had been fun to watch those idiots run around to escape their flying furniture. 

He liked the plan Kay had given him, it would be interesting to be able to scare the shit out of all the people here that he hated and not get in trouble for it. He didn't like anyone in Terminal City, not even the psy-ops. They had turned to him because they had no one else, but even they didn't realize that he wasn't like them. He was different from everyone here. That was something they'd find out soon enough.


	12. Escape

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 12: Escape

Brin woke up feeling more refreshed than she had in a long time. There was nothing better than sleeping with good thoughts, it always seemed to wind up giving you good dreams. As if the morning couldn't feel any better, Zack pushed open the bedroom door and walked in with a tray of food. Brin sat up with a teasing grin.

"Do I even dare try it?"

He chuckled as he set the tray down. "I didn't make it, Sandeman did. He asked me to bring it up to you. Did you really think I would come up with something like this?"

"I knew it wasn't your type of thing to do. You should take some lessons from the old man, I might forgive you faster if you spoil me."

"Then I'll start taking notes right away." He grabbed one of the biscuits off her tray and took a bite. Brin smacked his hand.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to take other people's food?"

"Manticore taught us to take what we required. Don't I require food?"

Brin rolled her eyes. Sometimes there was no talking to that man. "Did you feed Chelsea?"

He smiled at the mention of the little girl's name. "She's downstairs bugging the hell out of Sandeman, that's why I came up here. That kid is a bottomless pit." He said this as he was grabbing another biscuit.

"Sounds like someone else I know," she hinted while she stole her biscuit back out of his hand. He frowned for a moment, then reached out and picked up a sausage from her plate. Brin threw her hands into the air with exasperation.

"Why don't you just take the tray and I'll go down and get my own breakfast!"

He lifted her tray off her lap. "Sounds good to me."

Brin sighed and slid out of the bed, making sure to hit him on the back of the head on her way out. He laughed and got up to follow her, always making his chewing sounds loud enough for her to hear. Brin just rolled her eyes and hurried into the kitchen, she knew from past experience that Zack could be immature like a child. She was willing to bet Chelsea was much more grown-up. Then again, maybe not.

The second they stepped into the kitchen, an egg went flying past their heads. Brin couldn't believe the mess that was in the kitchen. "What is going on here?"

Sandeman and Chelsea looked up from the table, where more of their food had been thrown around than eaten. Sandeman straightened up, trying to look somewhat dignified despite the butter she could see in the remainder of his hair.

"We're testing her transgenic skills. This seems to be her talent."

Chelsea broke down in giggles while Brin struggled to keep a straight face. If she had any hope of having an adult conversation with these people, it was gone now. It was hard to believe she was around a 24-year-old X5 and an old man in his seventies or eighties, both of them seemed to be at Chelsea's level right now.

"I'm going to talk to Max, you guys can clean this up yourself."

Chelsea's face was the picture of innocence as she looked up at the young woman. "How come you can't help?"

"Because I just got back to this house. I shouldn't have to take any responsibility here for at least another week."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Run that by me again?"

"You heard me!" Brin called over her shoulder as she headed out the door. She couldn't wait to get to Max's, at least the IQ level should be higher there.

* * *

Kay's morning was heading along a similar track to Brin's, her roommates were locked in the middle of a wrestling match when she woke up. 

"You're going to lose!"

"I will not!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah!"

"I got a hundred bucks to waste right now, do you?"

Kay rolled her eyes. "Sketchy, he's six years old. Do you really think he has a hundred bucks to spend on this?"

Sketchy looked up at her with wide eyes, giving Ray the time to tackle his chest and knock him over. "Sure he does, don't all six-year-olds have that? Fine, why don't you lend him a hundred bucks? Who would you bet on?"

"My bet's on the kid."

"Thanks for the support."

"You're welcome."

Kay walked past the pair on the floor as she headed for the bathroom. Just as she was shutting the door, Sketchy called after her, "There's no hot water!"

"Well, if that isn't just great," she grumbled as she stripped and turned on the water. Sure enough, the water was freezing. In fact, it felt more like ice cubes rushing out of the faucet onto her. _This'll be the last shower I take here!_

The shower left her feeling anything but refreshed, but at least she was clean. It seemed like she had been filthy during her time hiding in Terminal City. After all, she couldn't just run into someone's house and use their shower. That was something she would have felt weird doing. There are some things in life that even an X5 won't sink to doing.

Despite how cold it was that day, Sketchy's living room felt amazingly warm after the shower. She felt like going back to bed, she didn't want to face what she knew she would have to do. Since Mole was no longer around and Kay still needed the other transgenics to help her with catching Familiars, she knew she would have to take care of the transgenics herself. That was something she didn't want to do, they would turn her into their leader. Her other choice was Sate, he had been leading the psy-ops for a while now, but she didn't trust that guy in the least. He gave her a strange feeling, and she always trusted her instincts. They were usually on the money.

Sketchy was grumbling to himself while he got dressed, not shy at all about Kay being right there. Kay raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going on about?"

He frowned. "That kid's only six and he still managed to beat me in a fake wrestling match! You should have seen how fast he moved, and he's got a grip like iron!"

"That doesn't really surprise me," she muttered unconsciously to herself, not even aware she'd spoken out loud.

Sketchy cocked his head to the side. "Why doesn't it surprise you?"

Her eyes widened as her mind quickly rushed through the millions of answers she could have given him. She finally settled on "It's not that hard to seem fast and strong compared to you, not that I can see anyways."

He threw a sock at her and continued dressing, nearly falling over as he tried to get his pants on. Kay grinned, he had no sense of balance. She couldn't believe he had agreed to let her and Ray stay here, but it was only temporary after all. Besides, she was slowly forming some plans for him. A reporter for a popular magazine could be useful for her cause.

"Going to work?"

"Yeah, Normal will shoot me if I don't show up on time. You wouldn't believe how bad he's got since your people got locked up in Terminal City, he lost over half his workers because of that, and he's been missing having his golden boy around."

"I can guarantee that Alec isn't missing him at all."

"What are you going to do all day?"

She shrugged. "I've got a few things going on for today."

"Anything big?"

"Nah, nothing important." She smirked to herself when his back was turned. If he only knew.

* * *

Joshua was walking around lazily, he had no one to talk to. He hadn't seen Mole all day, Alec and Jondy were hanging out together, and Max and Brin were in Max's apartment. He'd been more lonely than usual lately, the whole reason he had wanted to come to Terminal City was to have people to talk to and that just hadn't happened lately. It felt like people had stopped caring about him. 

"Hey Joshua! You doing anything?"

Joshua turned his head eagerly, then grinned when he saw Gem walking after him with her daughter Tahira in her arms. Joshua loved Tahira's name, it was Arabic for 'pure'. Gem gave her that name because she wanted her daughter to grow up without the inner pain of being hated. Of course in Terminal City the little girl was truly loved. Every time she smiled she got everyone in the room to smile with her. Still, they called her Ty for short simply because Tahira just didn't sound like a little girl's name.

"What's up, Gem?"

The pretty young X5 looked rather worn out. Her hair was tousled and there were bags under her eyes, which was rare for any transgenic. They were supposed to be able to go on without sleep for long periods of time. Still, she had been so busy lately. Since Max had been focused on her own family problems, Gem had pretty much been running the show. She was a good leader, there was no doubt about that, but she had been so busy that she barely had time for her child anymore.

"Could you watch Ty for a little while? I have to talk to a group of people who seem to think we are going to be taken over by the psy-ops. I don't need anyone leaving this place and bringing more bad news to ordinaries about us."

"Why do they think psy-ops will take over?"

"That incident in the Rec Center yesterday has them a little freaked out. Don't worry, I'll sort things out. I just need someone to keep an eye on Ty."

"I can do it," he said eagerly. He liked helping out people close to him, it made him feel good.

"Ok, you know where I live. Here's the key, her milk's in the fridge, diapers are in the closet in the bathroom, and her crib and some other clothes are in the living room. You'll be able to see them right away. If she gets fussy, just pick her up and bounce her a little bit. Not too hard, ok big guy?" She knew the tall dog-man wasn't even close to knowing his own strength.

He nodded and held out his arms, his face looking like a little boy at Christmas as she handed Ty over to him. The little girl's green eyes peered up at him lovingly, she was more than used to Joshua by now.

"Just be careful with my girl, ok?"

Joshua smiled and put an arm around her quickly to give her a short squeeze that nearly made her eyes pop out of her head. "Joshua be careful."

She walked away, praying to God that Joshua did a good job.

There was nothing for her to worry about, Joshua nearly spoiled little Tahira. He loved playing with her, her little giggle made him feel special. Everyone in Terminal City swore that she saved that strange little giggle just for him. He only had to change her diaper once, which actually didn't go too bad. He wasn't sure if the diaper was on backwards or not, but there was no one he could ask. Gem had been one of the earliest X5s to go into labor, so there weren't that many transgenic mothers around for him to ask for help.

The bottle feeding didn't go too badly, but for some reason Ty just didn't want to go to sleep after she was done eating. Joshua finally pulled out some of Gem's CDs that she had collected and put one in. He had seen Luke fuss with music several times before, so he at least knew how to run a CD player.

It turned out to be a song called 'Only Time' by Enya. Joshua breathed a sigh of relief as Ty finally drifted off to sleep. He slowly sat down on the couch with her, not sure how he would get her into the crib without waking her up. He was looking down at her innocent little face as he thought, when his head finally just plopped down and he was snoring like a tractor.

* * *

Sate sat outside the Rec Center with about thirty other psy-ops. Some of them had telekinesis like him, but many of the others had mind altering abilities. They were the ones he knew would really come in handy. 

"You all know what to do?"

He got several nods, then he slipped in. He couldn't exactly go unnoticed, but he didn't want to. Before he had even made it ten steps into the building, there was a loud shriek. He smiled chillingly, he knew who that was. He turned and focused his eyes on little Chelsea, who was now cowering behind Zack.

Zack didn't recognize the other man, but he could tell he fit the description of the psy-ops who had wreaked havoc in here yesterday. He didn't like the way Sate was looking at Chelsea, it was like she was a piece of meat. He reached down and put a hand on Chelsea's shoulder, hoping to calm her down. She had just relaxed when suddenly she was torn out from under his fingers and went sliding across the floor to Sate's outstretched arms.

Sate picked the little girl up easily, she wasn't really fighting. In fact, she wasn't moving at all, she was too terrified to move. That was how he liked it to be. He gave a rather charming smile to Zack.

"I don't suppose you want her back?"

Zack's blue eyes flashed dangerously. He didn't like anybody messing with someone who was his responsibility. "Drop her."

"I will eventually, but there's no telling how high up I'll be when I do it."

Zack tensed up when he saw Sate glance over towards the window. A face was there for a moment, but when they noticed him looking they pulled away. He returned his eyes to Sate.

"What's the point of this?"

"What's the point? I must say, you aren't the brightest one to ever come out of Manticore."

"And I suppose you think you are?"

Sate's eerily charming smile never left his face. "No, I don't think I am. In fact, I know I'm not."

Before Zack could reply, all the new tables in the room went flying towards him. He had to throw himself out of the way to avoid being crushed. Everyone in the room took off for the door, they didn't want to stick around for a repeat performance of yesterday. That was where the real problems started.

The first person to reach the door suddenly swung around hit the man behind him. His eyes were wide with shock as he did it, but that didn't matter. The one who got punched tackled him and sent him tumbling to the ground. It started happening with the rest as well, as soon as they reached the door they punched the first one behind them. Sate watched with a smirk as transgenic after transgenic started fighting one another. People were flying in every which direction, completely forgetting that they were running from a telekinetic man.

Zack took his chance while Sate was distracted and snatched Chelsea out from under his arm. The poor kid was barely conscious, she was scared so bad that she had nearly passed out. Sate whirled around furiously, he wasn't done with that kid yet. Zack's back hit the wall so hard that he saw stars, then he could feel something trying to pull Chelsea away from him. He braced his entire body and threw all his strength into holding onto her.

Sate couldn't believe it, that X5 was actually managing to hold onto the kid. His head was starting to hurt from the effort he was putting into trying to pull her away. He finally just stopped, giving his head a rest. Zack's body nearly slumped against the wall, he was thoroughly exhausted. That was worse than all out fighting. He had to run a hand over his face to wipe the sweat from his eyes, it was starting to burn him like crazy.

Now the transgenics weren't just hitting each other, they were throwing insults around. The first people to do it were shocked at what was coming out of their mouths, but soon everyone was joining in because they were angry. Soon it was an all out war between the people, none of them cared how it had gotten started.

One psy-ops woman leaned close to Zeke and whispered "They're easier to trick than the ordinaries!"

Zeke frowned and turned away from her. He agreed with her wholly, these freaks were very easy to trick. He still didn't like it though, weren't they all supposed to be on the same side? He didn't see the point in hurting the people they were supposed to be working with. It wasn't like it was getting them anywhere.

He felt strange being here. He had come with every intention to help Sate scare the shit out of these idiots, but now he was the only one not doing anything. It was when Sate stepped outside that he got himself out of there. He didn't know the other man very well, but he had the feeling he wouldn't like the fact that he wasn't helping out. He didn't notice Sate's eyes burning into his back as he slid around the corner.

Sate was less than happy with having a traitor, but he didn't have time to deal with him right now. Not to worry though, Zeke would pay later. At the moment Sate was more than amused at the antics of the battling transhumans. It was so easy to play with their minds that it wasn't even funny.

"Simpletons," he chuckled to himself, making sure they could all hear him. The fighting stopped so suddenly it was as if someone had flipped a switch. Every person there realized right then that they were being controlled as easily as ventriloquist dummies. Sate wanted to stick around and play with them a little longer, but something caught his eye.

Sandeman leaned on his cane heavily as he turned the corner. His ears, although not as sensitive as the transgenics', had picked up the commotion at the Rec Center. The first thing he saw was the cut up and bloody transgenics standing around, then his eyes fell on Sate. For some reason his heart seemed to stop right there. Who was that man? He looked so familiar, but Sandeman just couldn't place him. The height was one thing he recognized, but it was the eyes more than anything else. Those frightening blue eyes, what was it about them that struck something in him?

Sate froze at the sight of the old man. As much as he wanted to keep having fun, it was time to go. He signaled to the other psy-ops to move out, then turned and headed in the opposite direction. He could feel Sandeman's eyes on his back, then he paled. He couldn't let him see his barcode! He lengthened his step almost beyond the point where anyone else would have been able to keep up with him and remain at a walk.

Sandeman could see the barcode of the tall man walking away from him. His eyes struggled to focus in on it, trying to see the designation. Maybe that would help him remember who he was. He couldn't quite get it to become clear to him, but something was strange about it. He just couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something wrong with that barcode. He tried to get a closer look, but Sate was gone before he got the chance. That was when the other transgenics took off.

* * *

Both Joshua and Tahira were fast asleep on the couch when the door was suddenly thrown open. Joshua awoke to find himself facing Petey, a rather eccentric fox-like man who seemed to have way too much energy. Joshua normally didn't mind him, but he didn't like that he was barging into Gem's home. 

"What do you want?" he growled threateningly, not fazing Petey in the least.

"Psy-ops are going to take over Terminal City!"

Joshua growled again. "Gem said it's not true."

"I don't care what she said, they made another attack today. This time there was lots of them, and they made us all go nuts! I'm telling you man, we can't stay in this place!"

Joshua nearly sent the other man into the wall when Petey jumped on him to get him to follow him out the door. That was when Ty woke up and started screaming. Joshua shot Petey a deadly look, then turned his attention to the little girl.

Petey stood there for a moment, shuffling his weight back and forth to each foot, then decided quickly what to do. Opening the door behind him for a quick getaway, he reached out and took Ty from Joshua's arms before he even knew what had happened and took off down the hall. Joshua was in shock for a moment, then he took off after Petey. Gem had asked him to take care of her baby and by God he was going to do it.

Petey finally made it out of the building and headed down one of the side streets. He didn't know the different roads in Terminal City, but he knew the general direction he wanted to go.

* * *

Kay was quickly approaching Terminal City, she could already see the flag that they had raised. She was more than ready to just get this over with, it would be a long time ahead of her and she wanted to get started on it as soon as possible. The sooner it was started, the sooner it could get finished. That was what she hoped anyway. 

The soldiers around the city didn't notice the redhead that was standing beneath them and Kay decided to leave it that way for now. She didn't want to cause trouble before the fun started. As of yet she couldn't hear anyone approaching in the sewers, but that was soon to change she was sure. Sate would have started early so it could all be over with by noon. It may have seemed like a stupid move to other people, but that was why they were doing it. No one was going to expect them to make an escape in broad daylight, especially this early when there was still plenty of light left in the day so they could be caught. That was just the chance they would have to take.

Ray was sitting not too far back, where she had told him to wait. She couldn't just leave him alone at Sketchy's place, that would have been too dangerous. He would just have to tag along with her until they could find something better to do with him. The only thing that bothered her was that if the Familiars showed up they might try and take him away. She couldn't let that happen for Wendy's sake. She wasn't going to let her friend's son go back to those crazy people.

After several minutes, Sate finally stepped into her view from the other side of the fence. He looked surprised to see her, she had figured he would. He was supposed to meet Mole here, but considering the circumstances that wasn't possible. Sate's eyes flicked upward towards the guards, then he walked so he was standing right next to the fence. Kay walked forward until they were facing each other. His eyes ran over her, then over Ray behind her.

"What are you doing here? This wasn't what we planned."

"Well some other things happened that we didn't plan either, that's why I'm here. Are they going to be coming out soon?"

"I should think so. They're going insane thinking about how easily we can manipulate their minds. We took full advantage of that today."

"I don't care what you did, as long as they're coming out. What time are you getting your people out?"

"As soon as we're sure that every other transgenic who planned on getting out does so. You know that as soon as it gets around that the psy-ops are gone that no one else will be bothering to escape."

"Thank you Mr. Obvious, I didn't realize that before," she quipped sarcastically. She saw his eyes flash, he obviously didn't like being mocked, but she didn't really care. As soon as they were out, the ball was in her court. What he liked or didn't like wouldn't matter then. He turned and stalked away, leaving Kay to wait for his move. That was one thing she didn't like, the ball wasn't in her court yet, it was in his right now.

Ray watched all this nervously, he didn't like that other man. He was too scary for a little boy. He didn't even want to be here, he wished he could have gone home with his dad. He had waited for a long time to see him again, but it had only lasted a couple minutes. He wanted it to last longer next time.

* * *

Ames sat down in the tiny room he was in. This wasn't going well at all. It hadn't taken him long to reach the Conclave, but they refused to believe that Ray was alive. They figured the transgenics had messed with his head and he was no longer sane. That was ridiculous, he was upset but not insane. His mental state was perfectly normal. 

He had seen Thula's smirk when she heard what was going on. She had never liked him, the fact that he had left the Phalanxes just plain pissed her off. It made her happier when she heard that he couldn't take down X5-452, it gave her a chance to show off to him. She liked proving that she was superior to him, but she didn't get her chance with 452. That stupid X5 had handcuffed her to a column before she could do anything. Ames had never said anything to her about it, but she knew it had amused him. She was one up on him now that he seemed to be crazy as a loon.

Ames just didn't understand why they refused to believe Ray was alive. He could see why they might not believe him at first, but it was like they wouldn't even let the idea enter their minds. They just looked at him like he had three heads and then took on the attitude of talking to a child, telling him that his son had died and that he needed to accept it. By now he had given up even trying to convince them. It was a waste of his time.

The door opened suddenly, surprising him and making him jump slightly. Lenore stepped into the room, studying his face. Despite the fact that she was a high priestess he'd known for many years, he'd never liked her. He hated how she seemed to take pleasure in ordering him around. Being one of the Conclave's messengers seemed to make her think that she was better than him. That was one of the reasons he wished he hadn't left the Phalanxes, it would have given him authority over her.

"Ames, you are free to go when you like."

"Does this mean you don't think I'm certifiable?" he snapped irritably. Her eyes looked on him disapprovingly, lack of respect like that was not tolerated by her.

"We have received confirmation that your son is alive and in the hands of the transgenics. He was spotted by one of our people."

Ames felt a slight rush of excitement. He just hoped they were going to help him get his son back. "Does the Conclave give me permission to retrieve him?" Whether or not they let him, he would do it anyways. He just figured he might as well keep up a respectable attitude for the sake of appearances.

"Not yet. We have other plans for you at this time. Seeing as how 452 is locked away, we don't need you to remain as a federal agent. The Conclave requests that you rejoin the Phalanxes, we have important plans for you and your replacement is not suitable for the job."

"What kind of plans?"

"I assume that since you've been in captivity you haven't heard about the latest transgenic problem."

"What about the transgenics?"

"Have you heard about the X2s?"

"I've been told some about them, but not much. All I know is that they're considered the major mistakes of the X series. Weren't most of them killed off?"

"All but four. Lately, these four have gone on a killing spree. It hasn't been random either as many people think. They've killed people all around the country, mauling them like animals so most people assume it's an animal attack. The problem is that all these people have been our brothers and sisters. I don't know how the X2s have been able to separate them from other people, but somehow they've managed it. They've killed over thirty of our people, three here in Seattle. One was very recent, but the other two were right after Manticore was burned down, so they figured out how to tell us apart very early. Despite the fact that they don't look like the rest of the X series, they are every bit as strong if not stronger. That's why we need the Phalanxes on this, and I mean with you as part of them. A second class Familiar would never be able to go up against these things."

"What makes you think I'll go along with this? I can see why these things worry you, and under normal circumstances they would worry me too, but compared to my son they aren't important to me."

"Help us with this and we will help you get your son back, I promise you."

Ames wasn't sure what to do. He wanted Ray back, but his chances of succeeding on his own were low. He needed his people for this, but he wasn't sure if he could trust Lenore. She had been known to go back on her word. Come to think of it, so had he. Still, he didn't have any other options.

"Fine, but I want this business done with soon."

* * *

Kay glanced at her watch, it was almost 10:00. What was taking so long? Ray hadn't said anything, but she knew he was bored out of his mind. Who could blame him? She was just as bored as he was. 

A gunshot being fired snapped her wide awake. It had come from somewhere in the sewers, they must be coming. _It's about time!_ It was muffled, so the soldiers above didn't hear it. After the first shot, several more were fired. After a short time, the shots stopped and she could clearly hear running footsteps. They were rather heavy, so she was willing to bet it was the soldiers that were stationed down there. So much for wanting to protect their country, it sounded more to her like they just wanted to save their own asses.

When a manhole cover was shoved from its original position and the soldiers lifted themselves out, Kay easily delivered some kicks to knock them out. They weren't expecting anyone to be waiting for them, so she didn't meet any resistance. Pulling their unconscious bodies away from the opening, she peered down to see Joshua standing below her surrounded by several other terrified-looking transgenics. He wasn't even looking up at her, he seemed to be looking for someone else.

"Hey Josh, what's going on down there?"

His head snapped up, then his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. She smiled, she had figured he didn't know she was alive. Max wouldn't have told him because that would involve telling him about everything she had been doing while she was gone.

"Kay! Are you an angel?"

Kay smiled wider at his innocence. "No big guy, I'm real. What's going on?"

"Others are scared. Petey was scared too, but he took Ty. Gem said to watch Ty."

Kay was surprised, she knew who Ty was from her times spying on the Rec Center. Someone had run off with the kid? "Why don't you guys come up here, it's not safe for you down there. It won't take long for more soldiers to show up." She knew that wasn't true, none of the other soldiers were aware that they were here, but these people wouldn't listen to her unless they were scared for their lives.

Joshua stood back as others climbed up the ladder into the sunlight. He watched each one, then nearly jumped on Petey when he spotted him. Petey scrambled up the ladder as fast as he could, only to have Kay pull Ty out of his arms. The poor kid was screaming at the top of her lungs. Kay bounced her around a bit as the last of the runaways finally made it up out of the sewers, then handed her off to Joshua so she could get to Ray.

A female member of the Polar Division stepped over to her. "Where are we going to go?"

"Just hold on, I have an idea. It'll just take a little while, but hopefully it will get the job done. Can you do me a favor and find as many X series in the group as you can? I would shout but I don't want to take the chance of being heard."

The woman nodded and headed off into the crowd. Kay pulled Ray to her side as she walked back over to the fence around Terminal City. Sate stepped out from the behind one of the buildings, making sure the hood of his sweater covered his face so they didn't recognize him.

"What time should the rest of us come out?"

"When I show back up. I should be back in an hour or two. Just keep your people hidden for now, ok?"

He nodded, but his eyes still struck her as cold as she turned away. When the Polar woman came back with her findings, he had disappeared. The woman had about fifteen of the X series with her. That impressed Kay, there were only about twenty-two X series in Terminal City

"Ok people, listen up. In a couple minutes I will have clearance for all of you to make it through the city without being stopped. You need to make it to this address." She held up a slip of paper and let everyone get a good look at it. "Most of you can head out right away, but I'll need a couple of you to stick around. I'll need your help in getting these other people out of here. Do I have anyone who'll agree to stay?"

Two stepped forward confidently. _Good, we have at least a few people here who don't discriminate against the freaks._ One was a tall, Hispanic man, the other was a much shorter, raven-haired woman. They looked like the typical people running around in Seattle, so she figured they would do.

"What's your names?"

"Jackie."

"Kito."

Kay tensed at the last one. She should have recognized him sooner, she had lived with him for so long and nearly lost her virginity to him. "Can you two manage a semi?"

They raised their eyebrows. Jackie answered first. "I've never done it, but I can handle it."

Kito nodded. "Me too."

"Good. If the rest of you will just wait a little bit, we'll have your passes to get through the city."

It wasn't even five minutes later that Normal showed up. She smiled sweetly. "I was wondering when you would get here."

Normal walked towards her stiffly, obviously not feeling comfortable around all the transgenics that were here. Just because he didn't hate them anymore didn't mean that he was at ease around them. "I hope you're happy, twenty sector passes aren't the easiest things to come with without raising suspicion."

"You can keep five of them, we only need fifteen. Do you have the keys?"

He pulled them out of his pockets. "The drivers can come with me and we'll bring back bikes for the rest. I hope you appreciate all this good stuff I'm doing for your people."

"Aw, come on, you're doing it for a good cause."

"I don't aim to be the Martin Luther King Jr. for the transgenics."

Kay snorted. "That's Max's job, not yours."

Normal rolled his eyes. "If she's Martin Luther King Jr., then who are you?"

She grinned. "A less religious Moses, and I am leading my people out of captivity."

He rolled his eyes again and walked off with Kito and Jackie. It didn't take long for them to return, this time with two semis large enough to fit the Rec Center into. Normal hopped out of his car, which had been behind them, and opened the back of one of the semis to reveal fourteen bikes. All the other X series put on their passes and climbed onto the bikes, then rode off. Kay stood up where all the other transhumans could see her.

"Everyone, I want you to split yourselves up as evenly as possible and get into the back of one of the semis. It won't be long before you're in safety, so don't worry."

She watched as people started filing into the semis, then made sure everyone was evenly distributed. She wanted the ride to be comfortable for them. She was about to follow Normal to his car when Joshua ran down to her.

"Can you take Ty? Big truck might scare her."

Kay smiled and took the baby into her arms. "Sure big guy, I'll take good care of her."

He smiled and went back into the semi, then the doors were shut. She felt a little bad that he had to get in the middle of all of this, but it was too late to turn back now. She slid into Normal's car with him, she was going with him so he could give her a ride back to Terminal City once she was sure everyone was settled in. They didn't have to hurry, the psy-ops were currently getting their barcodes removed so they could pass through the city.

The drive was nerve-wracking for her, she didn't want anything to go wrong. She would prefer if people never knew that Terminal City was now emptied of over half its occupants. It would be safer for Ray if it remained that way.

Once Logan's old apartment building came into view, her fears started to fade away. She knew this was as good a place as any to hide, everyone had moved out of it after White's people shot up the place. It had been empty for almost two months now. It had enough room to hide them all. It would be a tight fit, but they would manage. Besides, she planned for the X series and psy-ops to eventually find their own places to live. That would make living here a little easier.

With every X series standing guard, all the transhumans managed to make it inside safely. Not even one hoverdrone made an appearance, to Kay's great relief. This had been scary enough, but she knew the other half wasn't going to be so pretty either.


	13. Blast From The Past

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 13: Blast From The Past

The car was abnormally silent as Normal drove along. Kay was just staring out the window, hoping the rest of their plan went well. They had left Ray with Joshua, he seemed to have given in to the fact that he was now the main babysitter. Luckily for him there weren't many young people for him to watch. Normal finally tried to break the uncomfortable silence.

"That baby that the dogman was holding, was that...?"

"Yeah, she's the one you delivered in JamPony. I think her name's Tahira, Ty for short."

"What does Tahira mean?"

"It's Arabic for 'pure'. I think Gem said it was because she didn't want her daughter's soul tarnished by the hatred of the other people."

Normal nodded in agreement. "That's all anyone can hope for that little girl. I get the feeling that true freedom isn't going to come in her lifetime."

"I'm hoping to change that."

"How? Getting some of them out of Terminal City isn't going to solve the problem, they're still considered fugitives by the rest of the country."

"We can take the people's minds off us."

"How? Everyone considers you guys to be the most dangerous thing since nuclear weapons."

"That's the thing, we're not. There's something else out there that poses a much bigger threat to the world than us, but the people don't know about it."

"What is it?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Actually, I'm hoping you'll help us expose them."

"If it means putting myself in danger, you can count me out. I want to help you people, but I'm not in the mood for suicide."

"You're not going to lose your life, just a little money. I'll help you with that if I have to."

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what's going to happen?"

"Sorry, not right now."

"Fine, I'm used to people not telling me the truth. Look who works for me."

Kay chuckled, that was true. The JamPony gang weren't known for telling their boss the truth. There was one thing they were good for though, they would come through in a pinch for their friends. She just hoped they would still consider her a friend. They should, she doubted Original Cindy knew about her and White, and Sketchy and Normal definitely didn't know. As far as she could tell, the path was clear for her to get their help.

* * *

Max and Brin were talking comfortably, Max had definitely noticed the good mood her sister was in. Things seemed to have gotten a lot better. 

"So you two are getting along like usual?" Max asked, referring to Brin and Zack.

"Yeah, it feels like nothing happened. I'm still a little mad, why wouldn't I be? Still, it's so hard to hold anything against him. You don't know him as personally as I do, he can be much more sensitive than he lets us believe. I get the feeling it was killing him to be at odds with us. He may strike most people as a loner, but he can't stand to be really alone."

Max nodded. "It doesn't surprise me, he did everything he could to keep me away from Logan. I know part of it was the fact that he felt a little more than brotherly towards me, but I think he also knew that if I was with Logan, I wouldn't need him. After all, Eyes Only could do a much better job at protecting me than he could."

Brin's mouth opened as she was about to say more, but the door was suddenly pounded on almost hard enough to knock it inwards. Max hurried over to it so she could answer the person before they tore her door off its hinges.

"What's going on that makes you feel like almost destroying my door?"

Alec grabbed the door before she slammed it back shut on him, then Jondy slid in. She figured it would be better if she did the talking.

"There was practically a stampede earlier from the Rec Center. We don't know what's going on, but if those people kept going at the pace they were they would go straight through the fence. Luckily, they didn't do that, but I think they left through the sewers."

Max's eyes widened. "You mean a bunch of transgenics are loose in Seattle now? What scared them so much?"

Jondy shrugged. "I have no clue, but it had to have been bad. You should have seen the way they were moving, it was like the devil himself was on their heels."

* * *

Sate stood back and watched as the psy-ops were having their barcodes removed. He was leaving his on for now, there wasn't enough time for everyone to have theirs removed, but most of them were having it done. It would be much easier for them to get through the city. The rest of them would just have to deal with it on their own. He didn't see one other psy-ops who also wasn't having his barcode removed, rather he was slipping out of the room unnoticed. 

Zeke took off down the hall once he was sure he couldn't be seen. No one knew the truth, but the main reason that he hadn't been helping the others scare the transhumans was because he was actually focusing on someone else. His main ability was being able to see into someone's mind. Manticore had planned to use him as some sort of lie detector test because the transgenics couldn't hide their entire mind from him, but it also gave him access to things they didn't want him to know.

Zeke had never trusted Sate, it was just a feeling he got. He finally had decided to try and see into Sate's mind, but that was hard to do because unless the person had no idea what was going on, they would know a psy-ops was in the area. The usual effect was that they got a headache, but sometimes they saw flashes of what he was looking through in their head, sort of like a memory flash. A transgenic that knew what to expect from a psy-ops would immediately come looking for him. He just hoped that Sate hadn't noticed.

He had figured the best time to do it was when Sate's mind was on something else completely, like what they were doing today. It was more than enough to distract him from anything Zeke might be doing to his head. The problem was that Zeke didn't know what to do with the information he had learned. Who could he talk to? There was no point in sticking around and telling Max, Sate and the other psy-ops would be long gone by the time she did anything. Other than that, would she even trust him after all that went on today? No, his best chance was to tell one of the other transhumans outside of Terminal City. They would be able to do more. The psy-ops would never leave him, they were too blind to see that he was going to lead them head-on into a brick wall.

The only problem was that he didn't know when he would get the chance to tell anyone without Sate being right there or finding out that he was the one who'd told. Zeke now knew just how much the other man was capable of, in fact he knew it better than anyone else after what he'd seen in Sate's head. They were all in trouble, he could see that clear as day.

Subconsciously his legs led him to the edge of Terminal City, over to the sewers where pretty soon everyone else would be coming. He finally decided just to get out now, there shouldn't be any guards down there after earlier, hopefully they wouldn't have been replaced already. Zeke was made more for reading minds, not fighting. He was strong, but Manticore hadn't kept him focused in that area. He would never be able to go up against several ordinaries. The most he'd be able to do would be to read their minds and taunt them with whatever he found, but that wouldn't help his case any.

The sewers were completely silent, it almost creeped him out. He was half expecting someone to just jump out and yell "Boo!", but that wasn't likely to happen. His imagination was just taking over, which wasn't surprising with some of the frightening things he'd seen in people's minds. If anyone knew what other people really thought, everyone in the world would be hiding from each other. He'd seen fantasies some people had that scared the shit out of him, most of the sweet, quiet people had rather violent thoughts that made him wonder why they hadn't become serial killers yet. He was glad to be a transgenic considering what normal people thought.

Just as he pulled himself up out of one of the manholes, a car pulled so close to his head that he nearly threw himself back down. Kay jumped out of the car and ran around to the front, not expecting anyone to be coming up already.

"Don't tell me they've started already."

"No, I just got a head start."

Kay studied his face, trying to remember where she'd seen him. It finally hit her that she'd seen him around a couple times in the Rec Center, his name was Zeke if she remembered right.

"Why are you coming out so early?"

"I'm looking for someone who's going to be able to stop Sate without him being able to trace it back to me."

"Why do you want to stop him, don't you want to get out of Terminal City?"

"It's not that, it's just that I know more about him than anyone else ever wanted to know. He can't be trusted, he's going to destroy everyone who gets out. You and the X series, the freaks, the psy-ops, and then he'll come back for everyone else in Terminal City. He won't be alone either, he'll have plenty of help. He'll be able to take out the city easily because of all the others he'll have with him, not to mention the fact that the population just went down by at least 50%."

Kay kneeled down next to him as he sat down on the ground after lifting himself up out of the sewers. "Why does he want to kill everyone? Manticore wasn't really big on treason."

"He was never in Manticore, he's not a transgenic. Everyone assumed he was because he showed up before everyone got locked in. He was there almost right after Manticore was burned down, but he was never in Manticore itself. He's one of the Familiars, and he's been in contact with them all along."

Kay bit her lip. If Sate really was with the Familiars, that meant the Conclave knew about her plan. That was when she smiled. Sate knew they were getting out and she had a place set up, but he didn't know where it was. He had no clue she was taking everyone to Foggle Towers, he didn't even know her safe place was in Seattle. Maybe she could still keep things running smoothly.

Normal had gone back to sit in the car to give them some privacy while they talked, and now Kay could hear the radio playing. She turned to tell him it was starting to bug her when a news bulletin came on.

"There has been another animal attack, following the four this morning that have already occurred. It happened no longer than twenty minutes ago at the Star Inc. headquarters. The first attack happened at 8:00 a.m. at the police department in South Market; the next at 9:00a.m. in Chinatown..." She continued naming off the attacks that had happened hourly all the way up to noon, which had just happened almost a half hour ago. Kay frowned as she listened to the report, then smiled. Zeke couldn't help but feel nervous.

"I wouldn't be happy right now. I saw some other weird things in Sate's head."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that there's only one transgenic he likes, the rest of them he'd kill without even blinking."

"Who does he like?"

"You, but not in a very good way. He likes you like a stalker would like someone. His thoughts about you aren't exactly for kids to see. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but I thought you should know."

Much to Zeke's surprise, she smiled again. "That actually works in well. What time do you think they're coming out?"

"I'd say in about a half hour."

"That works for me."

* * *

Max frowned as they reached the Rec Center, it looked like a fight had broken out. Then there was the tables that were flung around, laying in a pile in the middle of the room. Whatever had happened could not have been good. 

Everyone jumped as Zack stepped into the room behind them. Max turned on him with Jondy, Alec, and Brin just watching in silence. "What happened here? Why didn't you come get me?"

"I would have, but I had to take Chelsea to the infirmary. She was pretty badly shaken up. I think you should have at least realized that the psy-ops pulled something again."

"Actually, that thought never entered my mind. It's just that one man Sate that wants to cause problems, the rest of them just want to feel equal."

"Not anymore, there were quite a few psy-ops here. Sate was here too. He tried to take Chelsea, that's what shook her up bad enough for me to have to take her to the infirmary. It wasn't all telekinesis this time either. A lot of the telepathic ones were pulling stuff. Sate scared the people here to the door, then the others made them start fighting each other. It didn't take long for them all to forget about the psy-ops and just focus on tearing each other apart. When they figured out what happened, they took off."

Max clenched a fist angrily. "So that's why they left. Do you know where any of the psy-ops are right now?"

Zack shook his head. "I haven't seen any since then. It wouldn't surprise me if they're about to get out of here too. They're certainly not going to be accepted after pulling a stunt like that."

Alec finally took advantage of the short silence so he could get his two unwanted cents in. "Why don't we go to the sewers? The psy-ops may be planning to get out that way just like the others."

Max looked at him for moment, then nodded. "That sounds good, let's go."

Jondy rolled her eyes as Alec leaned in close and whispered, "Let's write this down on the calendar or something, she actually took some of my advice without insulting me!"

"If they do go through the sewers, I'm using you for a shield!" Max called back over her shoulder.

Jondy laughed as a mumbled "Dammit!" came from next to her.

* * *

Sate was satisfied, the psy-ops were finally done having their barcodes removed. He had even managed to get his taken off. The only difference was he knew his was never coming back like theirs. It was better that he got rid of it, the others might get a good look at it and realize it wasn't a real barcode. After all, the Conclave didn't know anything about the different barcodes for the different divisions, so they had just slapped any old barcode on him. For all he knew, it was the barcode of one of the freaks. The chances of it really belonging to a psy-ops were one in a million. 

He considered it very lucky that he had gotten away from Sandeman before the old man could see that the barcode wasn't one of his. Not only that, but Sate had met Sandeman before when he was young and still at the school. The Phalanxes had visited his classroom and Sandeman had been there. Of course, Sate had hit his huge growth spurt after that, so the old man shouldn't recognize him for his height.

His phone call to the Conclave earlier had surprised him, he hadn't known Ames White was still alive and knew his son was as well. That made his phone call very important to the other man, it confirmed he was right about Ray. Sate recognized the boy immediately, he had seen him several times when he went to visit his younger brother, Samuel. It made him proud that Sam was almost as good at telekinesis as he was.

The group of psy-ops had just reached the sewers and were starting to climb down when Sate heard a noise behind them. He turned in time to see someone pull their head back around the side of a building. He had no doubt it was Max or someone connected to her, that just wasn't acceptable right now. Focusing on a dumpster near that corner, he turned it sideways so the alley was blocked. He knew they could jump over it, but they knew as well as he did that once they were in the air he could take over. They wouldn't stand a chance against him that way, he could just send them flying into something sharp and impale them.

Most of the psy-ops had already made it down, but he stayed until every last one of them was out of sight before heading down himself. Once his feet hit the bottom of the sewers, he took off running. His long legs carried him easily, he would be out on the other side before Max could get down here. One of the psy-ops grabbed his arm and helped him out once he reached the right manhole, and as soon as his arm was free he rubbed it with distaste.

His senses nearly exploded as a very familiar scent reached him. He had always been able to tell people apart by their scent, and he recognized this person right away. Turning around, he smiled easily at Kay, who was standing right behind him.

"So you did make it in time. Should I feel honored that you wanted to be here fast or should I feel hurt that you didn't trust me to handle it on my own?"

"Stick with that last one and I think you'll be fine," she quipped, barely paying attention to him as she watched Zeke slowly start whispering in the ears of other psy-ops. Good, he was already getting started. He was a key factor in separating Sate from the transgenics. Soon, the others were starting to slip away on their own. Kay turned her attention back to Sate. She would have to distract him from them if this was going to work.

"If you and I are going to go, we may as well do it now."

Sate raised an eyebrow. "You and I? What about the others?"

"It'll be better for us if we all split up into smaller groups. The sector police won't be as suspicious that way. You'll ride with me and Normal, he'll drop us off."

"And just where are we going? You never shared that little bit with me."

Kay smiled, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she did so. His eyes watched her every move in a strange way that made her stomach turn over. Zeke wasn't kidding about the stalker thing. "You'll find out when we get there. I would settle down, we have a long ways to go."

"Out of town?"

"Way out. Do you really think we want to stay here?"

He followed her to the car and slid into the backseat. Kay tapped Normal on the arm and held up the magazine in her hand. He looked at it, then looked back at her questioningly. Why was she holding up a copy of the Seattle Times? Then she mouthed "building". He shrugged, he didn't know what was going through her head, but he would listen.

* * *

Alec started helping pull Max, Jondy, and Brin out of the manhole, leaving Zack to climb out on his own. They all looked around the alley they were in, it looked like whoever had been here had cleared out already. The garbage that used to be laying around was either trampled or pushed off to the side, so they had no doubt that this place had been filled with people. Max swore silently to herself, now she knew she had lost most of the people in Terminal City. 

Zack sniffed the air. "Some sort of big vehicle was here, I can still smell the exhaust. It's pretty strong, there may have been more than one."

Max frowned, she could smell it too. More people must have gotten out than she thought. That was definitely not a good thing, who knew what would happen? "Mole must have set this up. And to think I believed he was on our side!"

"He is, in his own way," Alec commented. "He wants us to be free and equal, but he didn't want to stay in Terminal City, he wanted to go out there and make it happen."

"I don't care what he wants, I'm going to give his slimy lizard ass the biggest beating it's ever seen."

"I don't think you'll be doing that in this lifetime," a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Luke standing there. "I was looking for you guys and some people said they saw you come this way. Just figured you'd want to know that Mole's dead, he took a big fall off the Seattle Times Building sometime during the night. There's reporters all over that place."

Max's eyes widened. "Well then who got these people out of here? There hasn't been anything on the news about an escape from Terminal City, has there?"

Luke shook his head. "Other than Mole, they're not talking about transgenics at all."

Max ran a hand back through her hair. "Ok, if Mole's not leading everyone, then who is?"

The silence seemed to become overwhelming after a while as they thought. Finally, Zack's voice reached their ears. "Kay."

Brin's head snapped up. "What about Kay?"

"She's leading them. Think about it, she has all sorts of allies. Normal, Sketchy, OC, and a lot of the other people of JamPony. She also might be able to convince Logan to help her. It wouldn't have taken much for her to get the transgenics out of here."

Alec thought for a moment, then something hit him. "The semis! Normal has access to a couple semis just in case we ever get a huge delivery or something. We never needed to use them, but I'm sure he would use them to help in a case like this. Kay would probably be one of the only people who could convince him to let her use them."

Jondy was completely confused. "Why would she do that? What would the point be? I can understand wanting to help people out of Terminal City, but it's not exactly risk-free. Is she really selfless enough to put her life on the line to help them?"

Zack frowned. "No, she's not. She was never a completely selfish person, but she doesn't just go out and do nice things for others. If Ben was still around I could believe it, but on her own she wouldn't do something like that for nothing. She must have some reason for wanting a large number of us with her."

"I can handle it that she's in charge of a bunch of our people now, but she'd better not do anything to screw up what we're working for," Max hissed under her breath.

* * *

The Seattle Times Building was just in sight. Kay relaxed in her seat, it wouldn't do her any good to get herself worked up before everything started. She just hoped it actually worked, there was so much that could go wrong. Her own death could be involved, but she hoped it didn't come to that. 

The ride had been quiet, Normal wouldn't say anything in Sate's presence and Sate was trying to figure out where they were going. They had already made a pit stop for gas and she'd seen him use his cell phone at that time, but just thinking they wouldn't be in town wasn't enough for him, he wanted to know the exact location. The Conclave must have wanted their information pretty badly.

Reporters were milling around everywhere, not giving nearly enough room for the car to get through. Normal honked on the horn, but it was no use, they weren't budging. Kay grabbed his arm to calm him down.

"We can take it from here, Normal. You can head back to work, we'll just grab another ride."

He didn't look like he wanted to leave her alone with Sate, but Kay thought that was a joke. She could more than take care of herself if Sate got out of hand. Right now, Sate didn't look too happy with having to get out of the car. He felt too exposed around these people, he didn't need his face on TV. The Conclave would punish him severely for that.

As soon as Normal had pulled away from the crowd, Kay and Sate wound up being engulfed in it. The reporters didn't even seem to notice the new arrivals, they were looking for one of the many people who claimed to have seen the fall. Kay almost smiled to herself, she had had a front seat for the whole thing. If only these people knew.

Just as Sate stepped forward and tried to push his way through the crowd, Kay tore the left sleeve of his jacket to reveal his entire arm. She stepped back quickly until she was almost fifteen feet away from him, letting him think it was someone else who had accidentally done it. He covered his arm quickly as he looked around, hoping nobody had seen the Caduceus that was on his left forearm.

Kay slowly let herself catch up to him, exclaiming "These people are way too pushy, we're not going to get through here fast!"

He glanced at her sideways, but she was looking in a different direction to let him think she hadn't seen his arm. She couldn't chase him away now.

They had been slowly working their way through the crowd for nearly a half hour when the first scream rang out. Kay heard it clearly and smiled, they had finally made it. The screams started coming more regularly, then the crowd started to push in their direction. Kay let herself fall back, separating herself from Sate until she knew he would have to turn around to get her.

"Sate, slow down!" she shouted. The other people didn't care, they were in too much of a hurry to bother with her. Sate turned and looked over his shoulder, then swore under his breath. He couldn't believe that a transgenic could be so slow, weren't they supposed to be superior to people? He started pushing his way back through the crowd, not finding it to be very easy due to the current of people pushing against him. By the time he reached her, almost the entire crowd had passed by.

Some cameramen were still stationed up on the second floors of buildings, still filming all that was going on. That made Kay feel even better, the people of the country would be able to see everything that happened here. She kept her hood up, making sure her face couldn't be seen by the cameras. She didn't need to get exposed to everyone.

Sate grabbed her arm and started to drag her along when she was jerked out of his arms. He turned around to find her being held by one of the strangest things he'd ever seen. It looked pretty human-like, but the eyes were strange and its teeth were sharper than the average person's. It was also taller than most people, being nearly his height. That was when he noticed there were three more standing on all sides of him. What the hell were they? They looked like mistakes of humanity, and they sure weren't sane. That was the thing about their eyes that he didn't like, they looked stark-raving mad.

Kay's whole body was shaking. She had deliberately planned to run into the X2s, but she hadn't thought about what her own reaction would be. The only thing that kept running through her head was her memory of being locked up with that one X2. He wasn't the one holding her, the one she had been trapped with was standing to Sate's left. The one holding her was the one they had all seen as children, the one that Ben first called the Nomlie and started to make a story about. Her skin felt like it was crawling at the touch of the creature, her stomach was doing flip-flops and she felt a little light-headed.

Sate slowly moved towards her, keeping his eyes on the X2 behind her. He could sense the other three moving slowly along with him, not letting him get an inch farther away from them. He slowly counted to ten in his head, then whirled around and focused his mind on the X2 behind him. The creature suddenly went flying backwards, crashing through the glass of the front door of the Seattle Times Building. The two to either side of him rushed forward and he sent one into a wall while lashing out and kicking the other one.

Kay felt the grip of the X2 holding her loosen and she took full advantage of it. She reached behind her head with both hands and grabbed the neck of the thing behind her, then threw the top half of her body forward, effectively flinging the X2 over her shoulder. She managed to catch her hood as it started to slip back, but she was sure the cameras had caught at least a glimpse of her face.

The X2 on the ground started to climb back to its feet, but Sate's eyes were focused on it, not allowing it to stand up. Kay saw the others approaching again, but she didn't say anything. Sate was completely distracted by the one on the ground as the other three grabbed him. Kay stood back and watched as Sate was thrown against a wall then slammed to the ground. The X2 on the ground in front of her climbed slowly to its feet and glared at her. She held up both fists in a fighting stance, more than ready to kick its ass.

"You're one of the others," a strange, raspy voice hissed. Kay was stunned to realize it was the X2. Sandeman had told her they could talk, but it still came as a surprise to actually hear it.

"What do you mean, 'one of the others'?"

"You're one of the ones that worked, they didn't keep you locked up like they did to us."

"I wouldn't say that, but I wasn't locked up full-time."

A strange cry from one of the other X2s distracted both of them. "He's one of the snakes! I can smell it!"

Kay had no idea what they were talking about. "He's not a snake, not literally anyway."

The X2 in front of her turned to face her again. "They smell like snakes, and they smell sick. They're different."

Kay smirked. "I knew that a long time ago. He's not normal by any means."

The X2 eyed her thoroughly, making her knees tremble slightly again. "You aren't trying to destroy us or get away from us. Why?"

"You can be more useful than some others. I knew you were coming, you were heading in a straight line for this place with the attacks."

A strange smile spread over the creature's face. "You're not one to miss anything, are you?"

"Not a thing."

She glanced back over its shoulder and watched the other three nearly tearing Sate apart. He wasn't dead yet, but he didn't look too good either. They were tearing at him almost like wild animals, using their nails to inflict the damage. She felt a little sick as she noticed one of his eyes had been torn out, but he deserved it. He had been going to kill everyone, then the cult would have proceeded to kill the rest of the world. She wasn't interested in seeing it happen at all, she would do what Sandeman had made her to do.

Walking straight past the X2 she'd been talking to, she grabbed the arm of one of the others. "I would stop if I were you. He'll be useful later."

The creature's eyes flashed, but it stepped back. Her body tensed as the one she'd been trapped with brushed past her roughly. Shaking off her fear, she grabbed Sate by the throat and lifted him up off the ground.

"You're going to wish you were dead before I'm done with you."

* * *

Lenore sat back with her eyes on the television. It was showing footage from earlier in the afternoon at the Seattle Times Building. She felt a burning anger as the broadcast finished and she pressed stop on the VCR, she had been recording everything. Sate's mark had been clear to the camera, not hidden or blurred in the least. It was obvious what it was. Just as she finished rewinding the tape, Ames White stepped through the door. It amused her to see he was still wearing a suit. 

"What did you call me for?"

"You might want to watch this." She pressed play on the tape, showing the X2s tearing Sate apart as Kay and the other X2 watched. Ames's eyes never left the screen, he didn't like what he was seeing. As Kay stopped the beating and dragged Sate to his feet, he watched her lips. There was no sound to the video other than the reporter talking, but he had learned to lip-read long ago. A lot of her face was hidden, but he caught the end of what she was saying.

"...were dead before I'm done with you."

He clenched a fist at his side. According to Sate's past few phone calls, not only were the transgenics leaving town but they were taking Ray with them. That last part concerned him more than anything else. If she could hurt another person like that, even if they were a Familiar, what would she do to his son? He wasn't going to let her have Ray long enough to find out.


	14. Breaking Family Ties

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 14: Breaking Family Ties

Kay was greeted by a wild fight as she walked into Foggle Towers. Apparently the psy-ops hadn't been able to smooth things over when they came, the other transgenics didn't seem too happy to see them. If she had thought Logan's apartment looked bad after White shot it up, it was nothing compared to what it looked like now. Rather than his fancy walls just having bullet holes in them, half of them had holes the size of a person in them now.

Kay jumped on top of one of the only tables that hadn't been destroyed in the fight and shouted "Come on people, we're not supposed to be fighting each other! The enemy is out there, not in here!"

No one paid her any attention. Finally losing her patience completely, she went about it a different way. "Stop acting like dumbasses and shut the fuck up so you can hear me!"

That got everyone's attention. _Funny how everyone just snaps into line when you use foul language. Maybe Manticore should have taken that approach. _She remained where she was on the table, looking pointedly at Zeke and slightly tilting her head in the direction of the street. He nodded and was out the door before she started talking again. Now she had to deal with the rest of these idiots.

"What happened?" At the shouts that suddenly started flying at her, she rephrased what she'd said. "What really happened? One person at a time!"

Finally, Joshua stepped out. Kay sighed, at least she would get a straight answer out of him.

"We thought they would attack, so we did it first."

She nodded in understanding, she probably hadn't handled this the right way. It would have been much better if she'd have told the others before bringing the psy-ops in. "Alright, let me explain to everyone what is going on. First of all, the psy-ops only did what they did at the Rec Center because their leader Sate told them to. It's been discovered that Sate was a Familiar, so he was misleading them. They were every bit as much of victims as you were. It's too late to go back now, you're all just going to have to learn to live with each other. I hope that once things settle down for us here, everyone who looks normal, that means both the psy-ops and the X series, can go get jobs. Some of you had previous jobs that you can return to, and for almost everyone else Normal has agreed to let you fill some of his positions that were left open when we got locked in Terminal City. For anyone else that still can't get a job I'm sure we'll be able to find something. We'll have to continuously remove our barcodes so no one gets suspicious, but I'm sure you were expecting that. Are there any questions?"

Joshua stepped forward again and held up Tahira. "What do we do with her? Gem said I take care of her, but Logan don't have diapers."

Kay walked over to him and lifted the baby out of his arms, smiling as the little girl took hold of her finger right away. "We'll find a way to get her back to Gem, she's better off with her mother. Until then, if we get diapers can you keep an eye on her big guy?"

He nodded. "Joshua do it."

She smiled at him. "Thanks. Where's Ray?"

A pull on her pants leg made her look down to see him standing next to her. She almost jumped, she hadn't even heard him approach. It creeped her out that he could sneak up on her so easily despite the fact that her senses were so heightened.

"Where have you been?" he asked innocently.

Every negative thought she had about him went right out the window when she looked down at him looking so sweet. It was hard to believe he would grow up to be an extremely efficient killing machine. "I've just been busy, that's all. What have you been doing while I was away?"

"Playing checkers with him," he said, pointing back at Petey. Turning back to her and whispering like he was telling her some big secret, he added "I'm kicking his butt."

Kay threw back her head and laughed. Knowing Petey, it wasn't really a surprise. "Why don't you go back to doing that? I've got some things to take care of."

He nodded and ran back over to where Petey was sitting by the checkers board. She watched him run off, then headed over to Digit, a transgenic that was strangely similar to Dix.

"I know you and your cameras. Did you happen to tape any of the broadcast that showed me and the X2s in it?"

He nodded nervously, not sure how she would react to him having it on tape. To his surprise, she smiled. "Can I borrow it? I don't know if you'll get it back." He nodded again, still not believing that he wasn't in trouble. After she had the video in her hands, she left the room. Making her way to the basement, she finally found where Zeke had tied Sate up.

"Did you have any problems with him?"

"He tried to get some things to hit me, but that's hard to do when I keep hitting him in the head. Other than that, he hasn't been too bad."

Sate's one good eye glared up at her as he tried to mumble through his gag. Kay gestured to Zeke to remove it. As soon as it was off, she wished she hadn't done that.

"I don't care what you do to me. This is just distracting you from what they're going to do, they will come for me once they've set the Coming into motion. It doesn't matter if you hurt me, it won't hurry them up and it won't affect me. We're superior, you can't make me feel pain."

Kay sneered down at him. "I'd watch it if I were you, I just might take that as a challenge. As much as you like to think you're tough stuff, I can still make you squeal. I plan to do it someday too, just you wait and see. We'll see how well your 'no pain' theory holds up."

His eyes remained on her, but he didn't say anything. She couldn't care less, she just wanted to make sure he was secured. She leaned down to help Zeke finish tying him up, then followed Zeke out into the hall. He looked nervous when he turned to face her.

"Are you sure his people won't come after him?"

"I'm pretty sure. They probably won't even come after Ray. Ames might, but the cult won't back him up. They're not the sweetest bunch. I think they go by the rule 'every man for himself'. Don't you have a pregnant girlfriend waiting for you? You don't have to waste your time down here."

He shrugged. "Natalie's sleeping right now. The trip wiped her out, she's not used to moving around anymore. The baby's due in a couple months, so she doesn't really like moving around. She says being seen in public is embarrassing."

Kay smiled, she couldn't compare but she could see where Natalie was coming from. "Get back to her anyway, I don't see why you'd want to stay down here. He's not going anywhere. Hey, did you drop off his blood sample at the hospital?"

Zeke nodded and headed upstairs. She waited a few more minutes before leaving, she just wanted to make sure Sate couldn't go anywhere, then she headed out of Foggle Towers and went towards Harbor Lights Hospital. She would get Sate's bloodwork from there, then head to JamPony. She managed to nod briskly towards an alley as she passed, knowing the occupants saw her.

* * *

Max collapsed on her bed. They had spent most of the afternoon looking for where the transgenics might be, but what they had come across instead was a news broadcast talking about the X2s, Kay, and Sate. Max's eyes had nearly popped out of her head when she saw the Caduceus on Sate's arm. No wonder Kay was letting him get beat up like that. She felt a chill go through her when she saw the X2s again. Why was Kay talking to them? No matter how much she wanted it to go away, the feeling that she was never going to be friends with Kay again was bugging her. It seemed she just couldn't keep people around anymore. 

Brin peered through Max's open door, watching her sister with concern. She knew Max was going through a hard time right now, she just hoped she could help. Zack was standing behind her. He still wasn't sure if things were okay again between him and Max, but he wasn't going to push it if she hadn't forgiven him yet. What worried him was that she might blame him for what was going on with the transgenics. After all, he was the one who'd pissed Kay off and probably made her run away. If she hadn't left, they wouldn't be in this situation right now.

Brin finally stepped through the open doorway and walked over to sit next to Max on the bed. Max barely even registered that she knew her sister was there. It felt like she just wanted to melt away and never be seen again, maybe things would be easier that way.

"You don't suppose Manticore gave us the ability to open a hole in the ground and disappear, do you?"

Brin smiled. "Sorry baby sister, you'll just have to do it like everyone else and go get a shovel."

"Nah, I'm too tired. I just wish I knew what was going on. White's gone and probably back with the cult, Logan hasn't called in days, half our people are gone, and I just don't know how I'm going to lead the rest of them!"

"You'll be fine. Who cares if White is with the cult? We're safe in here. Logan will most likely call soon, you know him, he's probably just getting ready to make an Eyes Only broadcast or something like that. It might be easier having less people in Terminal City, we won't need so much supplies. As for the leading, you're not alone. You have so many people around who will gladly help you out that you don't have to worry about anything right now. Why don't we all get out of the city for some fun stuff? Maybe go to Crash like you always talk about or go to JamPony just to see everyone. How does that sound?"

Max smiled serenely while just thinking about it. "That sounds so good right now you wouldn't believe it. As much as I don't want to, we should still get Alec. They were his friends too and he'll probably want to see them. Normal's probably been missing his Golden Boy."

* * *

Nearly getting run over by an over-zealous messenger on his motorcycle, Kay managed to get into JamPony without getting hurt. It still looked the same, but it wasn't nearly as full as it used to be. Normal was obviously in need of more workers, and he would need them soon. Making her way over to his counter, she finally caught his attention by whistling sharply. His head snapped up, then he let out a deep breath as he saw her. 

"You gave me a scare missy, I almost thought you were one of those federal agents trying to talk to me again. I'm telling you, they've been as thick as flies lately. They're suspicious of me hiring transgenics, as if a decent citizen like myself would ever do such a thing."

A grin crossed both their faces for a second, then Kay leaned in closer. "So you're planning on keeping that promise? I have a lot of people in need of jobs and you're our best shot."

"Don't worry, I never go back on my word. Besides, I can use all the help I can get."

"Good, cuz in the next few days you're going to have a lot more employees showing up."

"What are you going to do with them in the long run? They can't live like this forever."

"I'm hoping they won't have to. When the public knows the truth about who they should really be afraid of, they won't give us a second thought. Then, when we stop their real enemy, maybe they'll even be grateful to us. I know that sounds farfetched, but maybe they'll at least stop hating us so much."

Now Normal leaned in even closer so they wouldn't be heard. "How can you prove that there's something worse than your kind out there?"

Kay held up the tape that she'd been carrying under her jacket. "This is how I can prove it. Is Sketchy here?"

"I'm right here."

Kay turned to look behind her where Sketchy was standing. She had the feeling he had been trying to listen in on the conversation. Holding up the tape so he could see it, she waved it in front of his face. "Want to see it? I guarantee it'll be a good story. I also have other information about these people and ways to prove they exist."

He nodded and both men followed her upstairs to Normal's office. Normal turned on his TV and Kay popped the video in. "There's only one of them on this, the rest on the tape are my kind. I'm sure you've seen it on TV already, but I want you to notice everything there is about the very tall man in the video."

After pressing play, she sat back between the two who were now keeping their eyes on the screen at all times. The first thing that could be seen was the crowd running away from something, then Kay was grabbed by an X2. Once all the ordinaries were out of the picture, it was obvious who was not the transgenic out of the bunch. The X2s didn't look human and they already knew what Kay was. That left Sate, whose Caduceus mark stood out brilliantly against his pale skin. Kay felt Sketchy and Normal shudder when Sate sent one of the X2s flying with just his eyes. Now they were really seeing what this was about. Sketchy turned to Kay.

"It's great that he's telekinetic and all, but aren't there transgenics that can do that too?"

"Yeah, but you don't know the whole story yet. This is just an example of one of these people. I think you can tell that if he was one on one with one of those X2s he'd be able to take them out easily. His only disadvantage here is that he's outnumbered."

When the tape was done playing its course, Kay popped it out. Normal was the first one to speak.

"Is that snake thing on his arm their identifying mark? If so, that's not the best way to find them. All they have to do is wear long-sleeved shirts, and that's pretty common in Seattle."

"They have a greeting too. It's fen'os tol. You probably won't be lucky enough to catch them saying it to each other, but anyone can walk near them and say it to them to see how they react to it. With any luck they'll slip up and say it just because it comes naturally to them."

"What makes them more dangerous than you?"

"They've been around a lot longer. They're some kind of breeding cult that specializes in producing very advanced humans. Every bit of their blood looks like yours, to any doctor they would appear to be perfectly normal. They've been around a long time too, so they come in all ages and colors. They're also all over in the government system. Do you remember the federal agent who first confirmed that there really are transgenics out there?"

Normal nodded immediately. "Agent White? I thought he was a true patriot for doing that."

"Well, he's one of them. His last name isn't White either, it's Sandeman. He changed his name because his father is the one who made the transgenics. Apparently he thought it was time to bring genetics into the cult, but they wouldn't listen. I'm sure you remember the people who started that huge fight here a while back. They're the most powerful in the cult, they're called the Phalanxes. Get this, even Senator McKinley is part of the cult."

That got their attention, especially Sketchy's. That kind of information was gold for a reporter, and he'd had it dropped into his lap! Something like that didn't happen everyday.

"What makes them so dangerous other than being that powerful?" he asked eagerly, wanting to hear more to fill the magazine with. This kind of stuff could become front page news.

"To become an official member of the cult, they have to have snake's blood put in them. Not just any snake either, but a snake with a certain kind of pathogen that would kill any normal person. The lead Phalanx, Thula, was born with this pathogen in her blood. The one in her blood is slightly different from the snake's, it can be changed so it'll be airborne. Once it is in the air, it'll be like an epidemic, it'll knock out everyone who isn't part of the cult. They already have a problem though because it appears that Sandeman made transgenics immune to the virus so we would be left too after the Coming, which is what they call it."

Now Normal and Sketchy were speechless. As luck would have it, Sketchy found his voice again first. "This sounds too far out to be true."

"Well, doesn't genetically altered human beings that can fight, move things with their minds, or alter your mind sound a little 'far out'? Why is this any different? I know they're real, and so does Max. You should see the runes that Sandeman put on her to appear at this time. They're supposed to show up at the time of the Coming to warn everyone about it. Max is the main weapon against it, she has DNA in her blood that will mix with the anti-key's blood and make the cure for the virus. The anti-key is one of the cult members whose blood is an antigen for the virus, but not on its own."

"Now this does sound far out. Do you have any of these people for us to take DNA tests of? It would be great if we could get the bloodwork on that guy in the video."

Reaching into her jacket once again, Kay pulled out the folder with Sate's bloodwork that she had picked up from Harbor Lights Hospital earlier and handed it to Sketchy. He looked at it eagerly although he didn't understand what he was seeing.

"This is great. We have a guy at the magazine who can make sense out of this for me. Do you mind if I ask you some questions so I can get this down in writing? This is too much just to keep in my head."

"Sure, I'll be here for as long as you need."

* * *

Ames sat back in his chair, he wasn't looking forward to this at all. Lenore had convinced him to rejoin the Phalanxes, but this was the first time he'd seen them since the incident at JamPony. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. He'd seen Thula a couple times while he was in solitary confinement just after getting back from being held hostage. The rest of them were good to see again though, they were a hell of a lot easier to get along with than Thula. 

They were meeting today to discuss what they should do to bring about the Coming. Now that they knew Ray was alive, they could proceed with their plans. There were rituals that would be followed, but the main thing they had to worry about was getting rid of Max since they thought she was the only way to stop them. They had to make sure nothing ruined their plans.

Once everyone was seated, Thula started talking. That was the part Ames dreaded, he hated to hear her sound like she knew everything. "I think we all know what we're doing here today. We want to bring our ancestors' dreams to life, but that can't be done unless 452 is gone. What we need to figure out now is how to get rid of that particular threat."

Maverick, the fourth-in-command, leaned forward. "Why not something similar to what happened to that other X5 that the public got a hold of?"

Levanna, the third-in-command and only other female Phalanx, raised an eyebrow. "You mean a massacre? How could we do that without getting attention drawn to us? That's the last thing we need right now."

"I'm not saying we do it ourselves. There are several transgenic haters out there, as was demonstrated when they strung up that X5. All we have to do is give them a nudge in the right direction. Perhaps we could provide them with equipment and chemicals to make it more interesting for them. If they got into Terminal City and died, then it's no matter to us. If they succeeded, then it would be exactly what we need. We would just have to make sure that they definitely took out 452."

A slow smile spread across Thula's face. "That sounds like a good plan to me. It's no harm to us if they fail and it's great for us if they succeed. I would suggest not pulling this one too soon though, we would need to gather enough people to be able to stand a chance against the numbers of transgenics in Terminal City. We want them to at least have a chance of pulling it off."

Isaac, the last member of the Phalanxes, decided to finally speak up. "Maybe we can make it a more public thing. There's an old football stadium just outside of town, we could provide transport so they could take the transgenics there. If this turns into a big enough deal, the entire lot of them would be killed while on national television. While a lot of people hate transgenics, they also don't believe in killing like that. It would send the whole country into a debate, then we could go about our business without being noticed."

Now Thula's eyes were practically dancing in her head. "That sounds even better. What's more, it sounds manageable. What do you say, Ames?" She turned her head to smirk condescendingly at him. The others remained silent, they were always aware of this tension whenever these two were together.

He shrugged, then even went so far as to stretch and yawn. He knew how Thula hated it when someone wasn't hanging on her every word. "Sounds fine to me, even though it sounds like overkill. Rather than killing two birds with one stone, it's killing one bird with 100 stones. Now if you don't mind, I would rather be sleeping right now. I didn't get out of Terminal City to talk to you. If I had known I would be back here, I would have stayed there but they wouldn't let me do that because you needed me here. Apparently they need me to cover up your mistakes. Doesn't that sound a little ironic to you?"

With that said and done, Ames stood up and walked out of the room. A smile shone on his face as he felt Thula's eyes burning furiously into his back. He'd been waiting to say something like that to her for a long time.

* * *

Max couldn't believe how excited she was as they reached her old workplace. Even Alec looked excited, which Jondy could testify to seeing as how he was nearly crushing her hand with excitement. Brin couldn't see what was so great about the place, but she wasn't about to spoil her sister's happiness. She deserved at least some fun after all the stuff that had been on her plate lately. Zack just hung back, not talking to anyone. He didn't even know why he had decided to come along with them. 

The first thing they saw as they walked into the building was Original Cindy. OC looked up in shock when she saw her best friend, then the two women ran squealing into each other's arms. Alec rolled his eyes at the childish display.

"And she says I'm immature," he whispered to Jondy, who smacked his arm in reply. That was when he looked up and spotted Sky across the room. "I'll be back in five." Jondy rolled her eyes as he walked away to high five his friend.

"Men," she grumbled. She stepped back to stand by Brin. "I'll keep you company since we don't seem to have any history here."

Brin grinned at her. "Jealous?"

"Of these people? I don't think so!"

"Not of them, exactly, but of the history they have with Max and Alec that we didn't get the chance to have. After all, we've only just met them, Max after twelve years and Alec for the first time."

"Well, maybe a little. I mean, you can tell they got to be really close here."

Max overheard the conversation. "You guys will love them just as much as we do by the time we leave here. You should meet Sketchy, he's someone you'll never forget whether you want to or not."

Cindy toyed with one of her curls. "I think he's up in Normal's lair, I don't know what that fool thinks he's doin' there."

Max smiled and hugged her again. "Thanks, I'll see ya when I get back down."

Everyone went up the stairs in a group, Alec running over to catch up with them when he saw they were leaving the room. Both he and Max saw images of the fight here just over a month ago flash in front of their eyes. Normal had gotten it pretty well fixed up, but some of the windows were still broken.

Although Zack had been walking farther back, he still ran into Brin's back as everyone came to a dead stop in the door of Normal's office. Max's angry voice sounded clearly from the sudden silence. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Zack, being quite a bit taller than the women, looked over their heads into the room. He was stunned to see Kay sitting in a chair near Sketchy and Normal. She didn't look any happier to see them.

"It's a free country, isn't it? No one said I couldn't come see some friends," Kay snapped, not missing a beat.

Max stormed into the room, her eyes blazing. "You shouldn't be here after all you've done. If you were smart you would have gotten out of town a long time ago. You of all people should know you're not wanted here."

Sketchy climbed to his feet. "Why don't you give her a break, Max? There's no reason for you to go nuts on us."

Turning her furious eyes on him, Max wound up making Sketchy back away nervously. "You have no idea what she did! If you knew, you wouldn't be bothering to talk to her right now."

Normal built up the courage to speak. "What could she have done that was so bad?"

Kay was already feeling a sense of dread as Max started talking. She knew exactly what Max was going to say.

"Do you know about Ames White?"

Normal shot a glance at Kay, remembering what she had said earlier about the cult. "Yeah, he's the federal agent who let everyone know you really exist."

"Well, it might interest you to know that for a while we thought Kay was dead. It turned out that she was being held captive by White, but not necessarily against her will. It seems that she was fucking him the whole time!"

Kay jumped to her feet. "I was NOT fucking him the whole time! You have no idea what was going on!"

"Did you or did you not screw him?"

"I did, but only once! Well, once before my heat cycle, but you can't hold me responsible for that one." Her glance at Zack made it clear that she still blamed him for that incident.

"Well something must have been going on between the two of you in order to sleep with him! For all we know you could hand over the whole lot of transgenics to him!"

Kay wanted to argue more, but she could see the looks on Sketchy and Normal's faces. She was no longer considered a friend of theirs, she was sure of that. "Fine, think what you want. It makes no difference to me!"

Pushing her way past the rest of the group, she headed downstairs. She was mildly aware of a pain in her gut that felt strange, but she pushed any thought of it away. _I'm letting myself get too upset. I'm so mad my stomach hurts!_

Max watched her go, then turned back to Normal and Sketchy, not noticing Zack slide away from everyone. "I don't want you two to ever contact her again, do you understand me?"

They both nodded, and they were both thinking along the same lines. Normal didn't want to see Kay again, but he couldn't blame the other transgenics for what she'd done. He still planned to give them jobs, he needed the workers anyway. Sketchy also still planned to write his article about the cult. He already had all the information on it he needed, so it wasn't like he would have to call Kay again.

Just as she reached the front doors of JamPony, Kay felt someone grab her arm. She whirled around to see Zack. "What do you want? Don't you think you've done enough for one lifetime?"

"I'm sorry! That's all I wanted to say. I'm sorry for what I did. I still don't agree with the decisions you made, but I shouldn't have done that. Are you happy?"

"No, you waited too long to say it. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, why don't you go back to them? I certainly don't need you."

"Kay, don't be like that."

Her nostrils flared in rage. "Don't call me that."

Now he was confused. "Call you what?"

"I'm not Kay anymore. You gave me that name and I don't want it. I'm 358."

Before he could say anything, she was out the door.


	15. The Watchers

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 15: The Watchers

Kay had thrown herself into Logan's old bedroom before anyone in Foggle Towers could ask her what was wrong. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably and her gut felt like it was exploding. She knew she needed to calm down, but she couldn't get the wave of emotions to leave her. Everything seemed to be coming apart. How could Max ever think she would hand over all these transgenics to the cult? She would never do that, these people trusted her and she had no thoughts of betraying that trust. In fact, it was almost precious to her now. They were the only ones left that trusted her, everyone else had left her behind.

A soft knock on the door made her jump, her senses were going wild right now with how upset she was and that tiny noise felt like a gunshot going off in her head. "Come in."

Joshua stepped nervously through the door and was immediately worried by what he saw. He had thought she was upset about something, but there was no expression on her face. Other than her shaking, there was no sign that she even had any emotions whatsoever. He had to remind himself that unlike Max, Kay didn't like letting other people see her emotions.

"Everything okay?"

Kay painstakingly forced a smile. "Yeah big guy, everything's okay. How're Ty and Ray?"

"Ty sleeping. Ray still playing checkers."

She nodded. "Good, at least they're fine. Did someone get you those diapers?"

He scrunched his nose and nodded. She could tell diaper-changing wasn't one of his favorite activities. An uncomfortable silence passed between them, then Joshua tried to ask his question again. "Everything really okay?"

Kay sighed and shrugged. "As okay as it's ever gonna be again. It's nothing to worry yourself about. I think we should focus on getting you and Ty back into Terminal City. You're better off in there with Max and the others."

He shook his head fiercely. "Ty go back, I won't."

She looked up at him, almost needing to tilt her head back all the way back to make eye contact with him. "What are you talking about? You have to go back."

"Why? Joshua wants to stay here."

"Why would you want to stay with us? Things aren't going to be easy here, and what if we get discovered? I don't want you getting caught in the middle of it."

"Joshua knows what he's doing. I want to look for Father."

Well, that would be easy to take care of. "Joshua, Sandeman is in Terminal City. He's been there for a while now."

Joshua looked down at her angrily. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Max tell me?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea big guy, but he's been there. I lived with him for a while, I know he's there. I'm sure he'd love to see you. Why don't you go back?"

His eyes flashed. "Father can wait. Max knows what she's doing, she doesn't need Joshua. You need me. I can help."

"Are you saying I don't know what I'm doing?" she teased lightly, hoping to get him to cheer up slightly. He had a rather vicious temper, she could see that.

"I will stay and help," he said, completely ignoring her attempt at a joke. Kay sighed and sat down on Logan's old bed. She wasn't going to change his mind, that was obvious.

"Fine, you can stay. Just don't tell me I didn't warn you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some stuff I need to get out."

* * *

Brin sat back in the passenger seat of Zack's car, her nerves going wild. Where was Max? She had run off after they left JamPony, saying she needed to be alone for a while. Original Cindy had no idea where she'd gone, so they decided to head back to Terminal City. Eventually Max would come back once she was cooled off. They would just have wait till then. 

Alec and Jondy were in the back seat of the car, staring silently out the windows. Jondy's mind was racing. She hadn't known what it would be like to see Kay, and she certainly hadn't expected that! She recognized her! She remembered when White had captured her and that weird little boy, Kay had been the one to rescue them. At the time Kay had been blonde, but she was still recognizable under those red curls. No wonder Kay hadn't wanted to tell Jondy her name at the time, she apparently had recognized her and didn't want her to get mad when she realized who'd saved her.

Alec sat in dead silence. He remembered how Kay had been before they had thought she was dead, and it was very different from this. No wonder Max had been so upset. He knew one thing about how Max operated, and that was that she always wanted a confrontation when she was mad. She had insulted Kay to try and get her to fight, that was just Max's way of dealing with things. If she had fought Kay she would have felt better and might have been able to deal with her feelings, but since Kay just closed up and left, she had no closure. That had surprised him, the Kay he knew wouldn't have let Max insult her and then just walk out, she would have jumped on her despite the fact that they were close. Something big had changed, that was for sure.

Zack could clearly see all the people in his car, and he kept letting his eyes wander over them to keep himself from thinking about what Kay had said to him. The fact that she had turned away the name he'd given her and went back to her designation was more painful than he would have expected. He'd wanted to make her understand why he had done what he did, but he knew she wouldn't see it. He didn't blame her. He had completely betrayed her with what he did. Now he was worried about what she'd do with the other transgenics. As much as he didn't want to believe it, what Max had said was true, Kay could very easily hand the transgenics over to White. He wouldn't have believed it when Max said it, but the look in Kay's eyes as she gave up her name had chilled him to the bone.

The gates of Terminal City loomed in front of them. The silence in the car was nothing to compare to the silence in there. The transgenics were slowly realizing that more of them were gone, and there was obvious mourning. Friends in there were separated from close friends that had left. Families were split apart all because of the fear they felt of the psy-ops. Where the psy-ops were now was the big question. They didn't have Sate along as their leader, so did they just split up and go their separate ways to try and fit in to life in the real world? Or did they find a place where they could all be together? The thought that the freaks and psy-ops were together never crossed their minds.

* * *

The basement of Foggle Towers was horribly chilly and breezy, but Kay was completely overheated and didn't even notice. Her anger was spilling over; her anger at Sandeman for making her what she was, her anger at the cult for causing Sandeman to make her, and most of all her anger at herself for not fighting back when she should have. She should have fought back when Max insulted her, she should have fought back as a child when she was being beaten, she should have fought back all those times she was in heat in Manticore and someone showed up to ease her burden, and she should have fought back when Ben tried to become closer to her. 

Somehow everything that happened to her seemed to trace back either to Ben or Sandeman. Her creator had made her what she was and gave her so much importance, but Ben had ruined her. If she had never fallen in love with him, she would be helping Max fight the Coming right now. Her night with Ames never would have happened, Zack would have shown up and freed her without coming across them being so comfortable. She had been internally suffering over Ben's death and had needed a relief, Ames just happened to be there. She might have slept with any one of the guards in the mood she was in, and maybe then Zack wouldn't have been so angry.

Loving Ben had made her more emotional. Being taken advantage of during her heat cycle was nothing new, but her extra emotions made her furious with Zack. The worst thing for her about being in love with Ben was that it made her desperately want to feel that kind of love again. It had felt good to be with Ames because she needed to be held, and it hurt her so much more that her friends hated her for needing to feel that. Now she just needed to get these emotions out.

Sate was lying on the floor, almost unconscious. His body was weak and exhausted, but that didn't bother her a bit. She would wake him up her own way.

Seeing his body jump when she kicked him felt good, seeing his good eye finally show the pain he was feeling as she beat him furiously was even better. Every bit of rage, frustration, and sadness was now focused on him. It was easier to make him the cause of her pain simply because she couldn't tear Ben apart for making her weak. Her shoulders were finally screaming under the force of her blows, her fists throbbing from the impacts. Her breathing became ragged as her body slowly exhausted itself, but she didn't stop until his body went limp. After taking a few deep breaths, she moved a hand to his throat to look for a pulse. It was still there, but it was faint.

"Kay?"

Kay's head whirled around as she heard Joshua's voice behind her. His eyes were stunned, he had apparently been watching through the entire beating. She blushed slightly, he shouldn't have had to see that.

"Sorry about that big guy, but I told you I had some stuff I needed to get out."

"You shouldn't do that. He can't fight back."

"I know he can't fight back, but I don't see anything wrong with that. You know he'd do the same thing to any of us."

"Don't matter. You already beat him, you don't need to do more."

Kay put her hands on her hips. "If I remember right, you shouldn't be talking. I heard about your confrontation with White, you beat him long after he couldn't fight back."

"Joshua was angry, but that was different. I was angry at him, you aren't angry at Sate. You're angry at someone else. If you want to hurt someone, hurt Joshua."

Kay looked up at him in shock. "Joshua, I couldn't hit you. Why would I ever want to do that? You're my friend."

"I'm your only friend. No other friends care. You're alone."

She felt her blood boiling, but she could see what he was trying to do. He wanted to make her angry enough so she'd hit him, but he didn't understand that that would only make her feel worse.

"I'm not going to hit you, Joshua. I'm not going to hit the only friend I've got left." She stepped forward and hugged him. "I appreciate the offer though, you have no idea how nice a thought it is that you would let me hit you so I'd feel better."

He hugged her back, nearly popping her eyes out of her head. "Hit me any time."

She chuckled, she would never take him up on that offer.

* * *

The door to Sandeman's old house was slowly opened, making no noise. Max stepped through silently, tears streaming down her face. Even though she couldn't touch Logan, he was the only person that could comfort her. As usual, his back was turned to her as he typed away at the computer. She could see the reflection of his face on the computer screen and nearly burst into full out sobs because of the relief it was to see him again. 

Logan finally saw her reflection in his screen and turned around. Just seeing the look on her face made him want to hold her, even if it meant his death. Still, he knew she would never let him do that.

"What's wrong?"

"Everything," she whispered so softly that he could hardly hear her.

"Start at the beginning," he said, gesturing to a chair not too far away from him. As she sat down, he reached into one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out his latex gloves. The least he could do was hold her hand, she needed something from him.

"The psy-ops scared most of the people out of Terminal City because they were following their leader Sate. He was on the news broadcast earlier."

Logan had seen that broadcast and had wondered what Kay was doing with the X2s and a Familiar, but had never thought that Familiar was leading the psy-ops. "Now we don't know where the other transgenics, the psy-ops, Kay, or even White are. I used to think we had a chance at life, but not anymore. Too many things are going wrong that we never counted on and I don't know how we're going to pull through it."

He reached out and brushed some strands of hair out of her face. "I don't know how you're going to make it, but I know you will. Max, you've never given up on a thing in your life and I don't want you to start now. Things will get better, they have to. At least you know things can't get worse."

She forced a smile. "Haven't you learned by now that whenever someone says that, things somehow manage to get worse?"

"I didn't know you were superstitious."

"I'm not, it's just something I've learned from experience."

* * *

Ames looked down at the picture of Ray in his wallet as he paced around his room. _I'm coming for you buddy, don't worry. _It hurt to look at the picture, but he did it anyway. It gave him the strength to keep going with what he believed to be a pointless mission. 

So far Ames had almost nothing to do with the plan to kill 452 other than ordering some of the necessities. Things like handcuffs and chains were rather obvious, but there also had to be cages, platforms, simple weapons like knives, guns, and tasers, an electric chair, and the strangest thing of all, a new acid that was proven to kill someone by eating away at their skin. The thought gave him chills, he had only seen an acid-eaten body once when he was a child and it had given him nightmares for weeks.

They had given Maverick the job of rounding up regular humans who wanted to destroy the transgenics. So far they had a couple hundred people, but they knew they would need a lot more if this was ever going to work. They weren't too worried though, the number seemed to multiply daily. There was no shortage of people willing to publicly torture what they viewed as freaks. The only thing that bothered Ames was that there was one way this could seriously backfire on them. What if they were forced to fight some of the transgenics and they were mistaken to be one of them by the people? He could tell none of the others had even considered that possibility.

The big thing to do now was to watch the news and see if anything new had come up with the transgenics. They knew the population in Terminal City was much lower than it had been previously, but they were the only other group than the transgenics that knew that. Sate's information had been good other than the fact that they didn't know where the rest of the freaks were.

Lenore walked into the room without bothering to knock. Ames scowled as she made herself comfortable in his chair behind the desk. Sliding his wallet back into his pocket, he prepared himself for dealing with something unpleasant. That seemed to be the only time she ever came to talk to him. This time she reached into her purse, pulled out a magazine, and slapped it down on his desk. He leaned over and looked down at it, it was a copy of the New World Weekly tabloid. On the cover was a picture of the Caduceus on Sate's arm. He picked it up and flipped to where the main story was. Running his eyes over the article, he was stunned to realize it was a full description of the cult and everything was true. It even mentioned the part of how 452's body was covered in runes predicting the Coming.

"How did this happen?" Lenore asked stiffly. Ames rolled his eyes.

"How am I supposed to know? My father has been living in Terminal City near 452, and she's connected to Eyes Only. Even though I shot up his penthouse, he still has his contacts. It wouldn't surprise me if he has a contact at this magazine."

Lenore frowned. "It sounds possible, but it doesn't seem right. You do know that this means we'll have to speed up our plans."

"Why? This is just another silly tabloid as far as people are concerned. Not many out there pay much attention to every story they read in these things. Most people will probably just laugh at it."

"Most people, but not all. We still have to hurry things up. We might have to find a new way for the Coming to happen, perhaps we should break away from the rituals. As long as it happens I don't see what the problem is."

"Why not just set it off at the football stadium when all those people are watching the transgenics die? It would be easy with them all grouped together and people might just assume it has something to do with the transgenics, maybe they'll think they brought diseases with them out of Manticore."

Lenore smiled slightly, which was a rare occurrence in her life. "That's a good idea. We'll have to send Thula to the lab immediately, the virus needs to be ready in time. When is the last order going to be in?"

"The acid will take the longest, it should make it here the day after tomorrow."

"Good. At least the people should really believe that the transgenics caused the viruses, they actually could have something like that. From what we know, every Manticore-based virus is based off our pathogen. It can only be destroyed by the same formula that will save the rest of humanity. Too bad we don't know who the anti-key is, we could get rid of the threat before they get a chance to stop us."

Ames shrugged. "The anti-key family has been around so long, they probably don't even know who they are themselves. You know what the legends say, the original anti-key didn't pass on the truth to his family about what they were. Whoever is in this family, they have no more of an idea about what they are than anyone else does. The only thing we can go on is that all the members the family has in the cult have been male."

"It's a start, but I hope our records of our people don't show a few candidates for that position."

Ames frowned. "It's not like we'd be able to question them either, they have no idea who they are."

* * *

Max and Logan were sitting in a comfortable silence. They hadn't talked nearly as much as Max would have expected, but she was just fine this way. They didn't need to talk to be happy around each other, which was something new for her. She usually hated just sitting around someone without saying anything, but with Logan it wasn't too bad. 

She turned her head towards a soft thump outside. Logan raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you hear something?"

"Is anyone outside?"

Logan looked up at the clock. "No, that would just be the neighbor dropping off my magazines. Since quite a few of them lately have been giving out true stuff, I figured I would start reading them. It helps me get ready for a broadcast, I'm planning on my first one soon. I'm not sure what it'll be about, but I'm pretty sure it'll be something transgenic-related."

"Why does your neighbor drop them off?"

"I noticed she always looks at these magazines, so I give her the money and she gets me a copy of each. She's a trustworthy person, she hasn't run off with the couple dollars I've given her yet."

Max stood up and walked out to look down at the front porch where, sure enough, there was a stack of magazines lying there. Looking both ways before opening the door, she reached out and grabbed the stack off the porch. Flipping through them, she paused on the New World Weekly.

"Oh God, did Sandeman manage to contact someone at this magazine?"

Logan looked up. "Let me see."

She handed him the magazine, allowing her hand to brush his since he was wearing the latex gloves. She almost smiled as she watched his forehead furrow as he read the article. She loved how he looked when he was concentrating, it was almost cute. "Did you find anything different?"

He held up the magazine and pointed to the name at the top of the column. "It was written by Sketchy."

Max's eyes widened as she took the tabloid out of his hand. Sure enough, Sketchy's real name was printed at the top of the page. "I don't think Sandeman could have come across him by chance. It had to have been Kay."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Kay? Why would she have given Sketchy that story?"

"To get attention off us. That's what some of the others wanted to do all along, but I didn't want to. What if it sent people into a panic and they stopped thinking about giving us freedom to live normally? I want to be around when my people get to live like everyone else."

"I thought you said you didn't know where Kay was? When would she have gotten the chance to give Sketchy the story?"

"Today. We went to see everyone at JamPony, that's why I'm not in Terminal City right now. When we got there, she was talking to Normal and Sketchy in Normal's office. We didn't leave on the best of terms. I'll bet anything that's what she was doing there. Sketchy must have really rushed to get this in before the deadline."

"Did you guys fight?"

She nodded, still staring down at the magazine. "I didn't know how angry I still was with her until I saw her face again. Could we talk about something else? I came here to cheer up, not to talk about what's making me upset."

Logan thought for a moment, then smiled. "Would supper interest you?"

"After the food we've been eating in Terminal City, you have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that!"

He chuckled and walked into the kitchen. "At least I'm still able to get the good stuff." He pulled out the chicken he had in the refrigerator. Max blushed as her stomach growled loud enough for him to hear. "Well, maybe I should have gotten two chickens! Or three, or four, or five, or..."

Max pulled on the gloves in her pocket and threw a spoon at him, still blushing. "I don't eat that much!"

"Oh please, you're better than a garbage disposal when it comes to getting rid of my food. At least I'll never have to worry about leftovers."

The childish bickering went on the entire time the chicken was in the oven, neither one paying attention to who was standing at the window.

* * *

Lenore was just about to leave, and Ames couldn't have been happier. _It's about time! _Just as she reached the door, her cellphone went off. She pulled it out of her purse. 

"Hello? Fen'os tol. Really? Is there anyone near you to help? How soon can they get there? Good, I want you to take her alive."

"Who was it?" Ames asked as soon as she hung up the phone. She turned to him with a pleased smile on her face. _Wow, two smiles in ten minutes. Should I be honored to witness this historical occasion?_

"That was Isaac. He's at your father's old house in Seattle, and it seems that 452 is there. He said she is having dinner with a man with dark blonde hair and glasses. Do you have any idea who he's talking about?"

"That man has been around several times when I've encountered 452, so it doesn't surprise me she's with him now. Will Isaac be able to capture her?"

Lenore frowned at him. "I have faith in him. He's proven to be more capable than you."

She didn't even notice how close Ames was to firing his gun at her head as she walked out of the room.

* * *

Max was in ecstasy as she took her first bite of the chicken. Logan tried hard not to laugh at the pleased expression on her face. 

"I take it I'm still a good cook even if I'm not living in a fancy place?"

"Ou ave o iea!" she exclaimed through her mouthful of chicken. Logan rolled his eyes.

"Your table manners haven't improved I see."

"Ut up!!!" she snapped, sending little bits of chicken onto the table. She giggled as he threw his hands up into the air in surrender. No sooner had his hands gone up than a gunshot rang out. Max jumped to her feet and was in a fighting stance instantly, then darted to her left just as a shot was fired at her. She felt something whiz past her ear. Turning her head in that direction, she saw a tall man in his late twenties with light brown hair and very serious green eyes shooting at her. Even as she was running she realized that the gun was a tranquilizer gun, not a regular gun.

Feeling her confidence grow, Max headed straight for him. Just as she reached him, she recognized him. Wasn't he one of the Phalanxes? No sooner had the thought gone through her head than Levanna stepped up behind her and slammed the butt of her gun against Max's head.

Logan turned his head just slightly from his position on the ground. The tranquilizer dart had hit him, but just barely. Not all of the drug was in his system, so while things were still a little blurry, they were manageable. He could see the two Phalanxes dragging Max away, but he couldn't get up to help her. The room seemed to be swimming in front of his eyes, there was no way he'd be able to walk straight even if he could get up.

Levanna tapped Isaac on the back as she flung Max over her shoulder. "Are we taking her to the football stadium or are we keeping her someplace else?"

"The football stadium. As soon as the last orders are in, we start the festivities," he said with a strange light in his eye.

Logan slowly took in the words he was hearing, struggling to stay conscious. Had they said a football stadium? Why were they taking Max there? What festivities? His mind was still pondering over this as he slid into unconsciousness. No one saw the other shape sliding away from the window after watching the entire scene.

* * *

Kay held Ray's hand as they walked down the street. She had promised him she would find a place to get him ice cream, it might be the last chance he would have in a while. Besides, as long as they both kept their hoods up they looked just like any other mother and child walking around the city. 

Ray was bouncing up and down with excitement. Food at Terminal City was not to his tastes at all. "Are we there yet?"

Kay rolled her eyes. "Didn't you just ask that a couple minutes ago?"

"Yeah, and you said no. Are we there now?"

"No, just hold on. I'll tell you when we're there."

"Are we almost there?"

"No, we've got a ways to go yet."

"Is that it?"

Kay sighed and shook her head. She didn't understand how people could do this day in and day out with their kids. She was glad this was only a temporary arrangement. There was no way she could handle being a mother in this day and age.

"Here we go," she said with relief as they reached probably the only running Dairy Queen in the state. There were people walking all over the place. Even if they didn't have the money to pay for ice cream, they still came in to get out of the cold. As they got into line, Kay overheard the conversation next to her.

"It should be Thursday, or so I heard. I can't wait to get my hands on some of those freaks. I hear there's even going to be acid there. Are you going?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss something like this for the world. It's about time we got the chance to do something. How are we going to get them?"

"We're just gonna run into the city and grab them. They're even giving us tasers and stuff to help us. It should be big, there's gonna be something like 300 people going in and grabbing them, then about 5,000 going to the stadium to watch the fun."

"It's the stadium just outside of town, right?"

"Yeah, they needed something that would be able to hold everyone who would want to watch. It's too bad we couldn't get rid of all of them this way."

Kay bought Ray his ice cream and dragged him out the door as fast as she could. He was too preoccupied with his ice cream to care. Kay's mind was racing, that was bad news for her. This would get rid of a lot of transgenics, especially since there weren't too many left in Terminal City. One thing confused her though. Why were all these people getting together now? Why hadn't they done it earlier? No one outside of the transgenics knew that Terminal City was much emptier now than it had been.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. The realization hit her suddenly, the Conclave knew about the escape. Sate had told them, so they would definitely know. _They must be going after Max. But why would they need all these people if they just want Max? _That answer came to her just as quickly. _Oh God, they're going to release the Coming! It would be the perfect move for them, most of the people would think they were getting sick off something from the transgenics. They would be getting rid of a ton of transgenics while getting started on the Coming at the same time._ She had to stop this, it was what she was made to do. Someone needed to get the information out to the people. There was no way she could go to Sketchy for help, he wouldn't ever help her again no matter what the story was.

Logan. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. He was the perfect solution. He most likely hated her, but he would stop this. Once people knew about what was really going on, they would hopefully change their minds about the massacre.

It seemed to take forever to get to Sandeman's old house, but they finally reached it. Ray was right behind her, he didn't seem to have any problem keeping up with her. His strength seemed to grow by the day. Just as she ran up to the door, she noticed something. The window just outside the kitchen was shattered. Had Logan been robbed?

The inside was completely silent, there was no sign of anyone living there. Perhaps Logan had gone to the market or something. "Logan?" There was no answer. She instinctively headed for the kitchen to see if there was any damage. As soon as she stepped in, she saw Logan laying right next to the kitchen table. She dropped Ray's hand and kneeled down beside him.

"Logan? Can you hear me?" She tapped the side of his face gently. He seemed to be breathing, but it was rather deep, like he was sleeping. She felt his pulse. It was still going strong and steady, so he wasn't dying. Running her eyes over his body, she noticed a wound in his side. It wasn't deep or serious, it was like something had nicked him. Her eyes lifted to the window, the shot must have come from there. Walking over to the window and positioning herself so she could see about where the bullet had landed, she decided that by the way Logan was laying he must have been sitting in his chair when he was hit. Letting her mind set up the scenario, she finally concluded about where the bullet would have wound up.

She found a mark in the wood in the entrance to the hallway that showed something had hit it, perhaps the bullet had torn through here too. Heading in the same direction, she finally spotted something lying on the floor. Thank God Logan kept his home immaculate, otherwise she never would have found it. Leaning down to take a closer look, she realized it wasn't a bullet but a tranquilizer dart. Feeling a rush of panic, she ran back into the kitchen.

God, please let me be wrong, let me be wrong. Her eyes were closed as she entered the kitchen, but she forced them open. Ray remained silent when he saw the horrified look on her face. She had been right. There were two places set at the table.


	16. The Last Moment Of Silence

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 16: The Last Moments of Silence

The silence in the house was overwhelming. Ray was sitting on the couch next to Logan, who was laying stretched out on his back where Kay had placed him. She was pacing back and forth across the room, looking at the clock every few seconds. Why hadn't he woken up yet? He had even stopped breathing a couple times, but she had managed to revive him. Only one answer came to her, the Familiars wanted enough of the drug for Max which was much more than what would be needed for Logan. Apparently he'd been hit with a dart that was meant for her.

Ray sat quietly, he knew when it was time to shut up. He remembered Logan from when they had gotten him out of his school and he remembered Logan to be a nice person. He didn't know what was wrong, but he hoped it was figured out soon. He had never seen Kay look so shaken up.

Kay's head was pounding. She had no idea what to do. There was going to be an attack on Terminal City that would result in a transgenic massacre, Max was with the Phalanxes, and the only person that could help them was unconscious. If she tried to talk to anyone in Terminal City, they wouldn't listen to her. At least they might listen to Logan.

As she paced the room, Kay's eyes came across a map of Seattle. She picked it up and glanced over it, she had no idea where that football stadium was. The only thing she knew was that it was just outside of town. That was something else she would need Logan's help with, he'd lived in Seattle long enough that he would probably know where it is.

Logan's head felt like it was about to explode as he struggled to open his eyes. He could sense someone moving around, but he wasn't sure who it was. He vaguely remembered Max getting carried away by the Phalanxes after he was shot, but nothing else was clear to him. His foot moved slightly and brushed against something solid and warm. Finally managing to open his eyes a crack, he realized that Ray was sitting by his feet. The flash of red out of the corner of his eye told him who his other visitor was.

"Kay?" he asked groggily. "Where's Max?"

She hurried over to him and crouched down next to him. "I was hoping that's what you'd be able to tell me. It was the Familiars, wasn't it?"

He forced a nod, seeing a burst of color in front of his eyes as he did so. "The Phalanxes. They said something about a football stadium."

"Do you know which one they're talking about?"

"No, they weren't specific and there's a few in town."

"I've heard people say it's just outside of town. Do you know of any of those?"

Logan's foggy head slowly started to clear itself out. At least he managed to get into a sitting position, it was easier to talk to her that way. "Yeah, there's only one. It's at the south end of town, about five miles out. It was built in 2008, so it wasn't quite finished when the pulse hit. It was supposed to be huge, it could hold more people in it than the rest of the stadiums in Seattle put together. Why would they use that?"

"There's going to be an attack on Terminal City. Ordinaries are going to be dragging out transgenics and taking them to this stadium to be tortured and killed publicly. I think that's where they'll take Max, even though I don't know why they didn't just kill her right off the bat. It would be easier for them."

Logan gritted his teeth against the pain in his head. He shouldn't let himself get upset right now, it wasn't helping anything. "I don't care what their reasoning is, I just want to get her away from them."

Kay grabbed his arm as he started to stand up. "First thing's first, you have to call Terminal City and let someone know what is going on. I heard someone say it was going to be Thursday, and today is Tuesday. That doesn't give us much time to prepare to defend ourselves against the mob. Then you have to do an Eyes Only broadcast and tell people that they're in danger."

Logan plopped back down on the couch, she wasn't going to let him get anywhere until he helped her. "Why would they be in danger?"

"Because I think the reason the Familiars want this to happen is so that they can start the Coming once that stadium is full of people. Think about it, it would wipe out thousands of people and the country would most likely think it came from us. It's the perfect cover for them."

"Fine, I'll call Terminal City and make the broadcast, but you have to find out where they're keeping Max. Oh, and you have to return Tahira to Gem, she's called here several times to see if I'd found you people yet. Why the hell do you have a baby with you?"

"That wasn't planned, Joshua was babysitting her and he got dragged out with the rest of the crowd when they ran out. You can tell Gem her daughter is fine, Joshua's been protecting her with his life."

Logan sighed and held out his hand. "Could you help me to the desk so I can call them?"

* * *

Ames was rushing down the hall towards the stairs so he could get to the basement. He couldn't have just seen that, he could only hope it was the poor light playing tricks on his eyes. What in the world were they thinking? Didn't they know how to use a gun? There was no reason for it, none at all. 

He had been sitting in his office watching the news just like pretty much everyone else in the building when he'd seen a van pull up outside. Watching the people get out and run to the back of the van, it was easy to recognize Isaac and Levanna. He had hoped he would be seeing 452's dead body, but instead they dragged her out perfectly alive. He'd seen her open eyes looking around, so she was definitely alive. How could they be so stupid? Why didn't they just kill her when they got the chance? That was what he would have done, they didn't need her anymore and she was their main opposition to the Coming.

Everyone jumped as he stormed into the main basement room. He could see Isaac and Levanna on the other side of the room, staring at him blankly. Lenore stepped in front of him before he could reach them, so he turned his wrath on her.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Why is she still alive?"

Lenore rolled her eyes. "Ames, if only you would think every now and then you would be a very bright man. 452 and 358 were close, if we exploit the fact that we have 452 we might be able to convince 358 to come out and we can get our hands on her so we can find out where Ray is. I did this for you, we had a deal and I intend to keep it. After we have 358, 452 will be killed immediately."

"Why did you bring her here?"

"They needed to pick up some equipment so that they could safely restrain her at the stadium when they reach it. They couldn't very well leave her in the van when they were coming in to get it. Relax Ames, once 358 comes for her your troubles will be over."

Laughter came from a room behind Isaac and Levanna. Ames recognized Max's voice, they hadn't even had the sense to drug her after they got her. He shot Lenore a withering look, then went to the door and opened it. Max was sitting on the other side, completely strapped to the wall. She didn't have a spare inch to move, that was for sure.

Max laughed even harder when she saw Lenore. She knew she was getting hysterical, but she kept laughing anyway. Taking a deep breath after a few minutes, she spoke directly to Lenore.

"Are you really so stupid? Wait, I'll bet Ames didn't tell you. Kay and I aren't really on good terms. I don't suppose Ames told you the reason, did he?"

Ames felt his insides go cold. The fact that she could expose what he'd done with Kay hadn't even occurred to him. Lenore gave him a questioning look, then turned her attention back to Max.

"What happened?"

Max sneered. "We're not friends anymore, that's what happened. I tend to stop trusting people who sleep with the enemy. I would have thought you'd have the same principles, so that's why I am so surprised you're still letting Ames work with you. You never know, he might have such a taste for transgenics that he might screw me while I'm here!"

Lenore's face was a picture of stunned horror. Ames reacted the only way he could, by walking to Max and punching her as hard as possible. The blow nearly knocked her unconscious, but she was still awake enough to sneer at him again.

"Ooh, you even like it rough."

He put his face far too close to hers for comfort. "I don't suppose there was ever a time that you weren't getting in someone's way? Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't touch you if you paid me, it's almost too disgusting to think about."

"Don't worry, the feeling's mutual."

He turned before she could make the situation any worse and pushed Lenore out of the room. The look on her face would have made him happy under most circumstances, but this wasn't one of those times. He could tell he was in for a rough time.

"You actually slept with one of the transgenics? Was she in heat?"

"The second time." He would have lied and said yes, but he was sure 452 would come out with the whole story later so he might as well just get it out now. Now the look on Lenore's face truly was priceless, not to mention Isaac and Levanna's expressions.

"What do you mean 'the second time'?" she asked angrily.

"Exactly what I said. I'm not someone to play around with words, you of all people should know that."

"Are you trying to bring more shame unto your family? This is one sure-fire way to do it."

"It's not what I was going for, but this has nothing to do with my family. I slept with 358 once when she wasn't in heat, then I don't know how many times once she started her cycle. All I know is the cycle lasted a couple days, so you can try to figure it out."

"Well, seeing as how it was the last thing you'll probably ever enjoy, I hope you had fun."

"Don't worry, I did," he sneered. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he was ruining any chance of a life at all by what he was doing. This might even convince her not to help him with getting his son. Not that he needed her help, he had his own plan.

* * *

Sandeman sat back wearily as he listened to the conversation going on a few feet away. He was sitting with Zack, Alec, Jondy, Brin, Luke, Gem, and some other transgenics in the Rec Center. Gem was crying because Logan had just told her that her daughter was alright, but now Zack was the one talking to him. 

"What do you mean there's going to be an attack? Even if they could get past the soldiers outside, they'll never be able to drag us out. It doesn't matter that a lot of us got out, there's still enough of us to be able to hold our own."

Logan frowned at Zack's face on his computer screen. He hated using the phone like this, it seemed so impersonal. He had huge news for them and they had to talk to him through a computer connection. It just didn't seem right. "I don't care how many of you are left there, the soldiers are most likely a part of this movement and that means there's going to be weapons. The other people are getting their hands on weapons too, and I know you don't have much. From what Max had told me before this happened, the psy-ops took out all the guns that Mole made, so you guys have practically nothing."

"Maybe so, but that can change in a couple days. If everyone starts working at it, we can be fully armed in time for their arrival. They're not getting any of us out of here, and they're not keeping Max. Why don't you put yourself to better use? I don't even see why you're still trying to help us."

Logan's jaw was set. Kay could see his anger, but she couldn't move forward to calm him down. She couldn't let anyone in Terminal City know she was here.

"You know why."

"Oh right, because of Max. I can't believe you've stuck around this long, but you're a very stubborn person. I would say 'man', but I have my doubts about that. You would think a Manticore-made virus would be enough to keep you away from my sister, but your mind doesn't work like everyone else's."

Logan glared at the screen, not noticing Sandeman slip off in the background. "Don't bite the hand that saves your ass, Zack. If I didn't call you, you would never have found out about this."

"Maybe so, but I don't have to burst into tears and tell you how grateful I am just because you gave me a call when something was going down. We'll get something done about this, just so you know your efforts haven't gone wasted."

Logan nearly slammed his fist through his computer screen as it filled with static. It just went to show what happened every time he did something to help. Kay walked up behind him and tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder. She could feel him shaking under her fingertips, his anger was just continually building up.

"I know you're mad, but just remember that Zack is nothing more than your average genetically-engineered asshole. Why don't you get started on getting ready for that broadcast? I'll head out and start looking for Max, and Ray can stay here to keep you company. Just don't do anything you're going to regret, okay?"

He scowled at her. "You mean like what you did? Don't worry, I like to think I have a little more common sense than you do when it comes to choosing my bed partners."

Kay withdrew her hand from his shoulder, feeling like he had physically hit her. She felt the pain in her gut return again. She had to stop letting herself get so damn upset. Lowering her voice so Ray couldn't hear them, she hissed "Not in front of Ray."

Standing up to face her, his eyes chilled her to the bone. "I forgot, it might be better if he didn't know about his father's extracurricular activities."

Kay turned and stormed out the door, almost wishing she could cry but not being able to get the tears out. Logan slammed his fist down on the desk in the house, making Ray jump and making Kay feel worse as her sensitive hearing picked up on it. The only person who didn't jump sat back to watch Kay saunter off down the sidewalk. He slid away from the edge of Logan's house, staying far enough back so Kay couldn't see him. It was too early to come out, he knew better. Glancing at his watch, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed redial. It was time for his hourly check-in.

* * *

Sandeman felt his legs burn slightly as he reached the Advanced Recombinant Genetics lab. He wasn't used to walking around so much, especially in such a hurry. When Zack had said that Max had a Manticore-made virus, it had stunned him. She had never said a thing to him and neither had anyone else. He was surprised, it should have occurred to them that he was a scientist and could help them. In fact, he was only one of three people who could. 

The thing that he had thought was brilliant at the time he created Manticore was that all of its viruses were based on the cult's snake pathogen. Since normal people had no cure for it, that meant there was no man-made cure for any of Manticore's biological agents except for the one made by the combination of Max's blood and the blood of the anti-key. Since Max already had her own blood, all that was needed was the blood of the anti-key, who had to be alive when the blood was taken. Sandeman smiled to himself as he pulled out a vial. He could help her with that.

* * *

Brin sat back as she watched the hustle and bustle around her. It seemed like no one was ever going to stop moving. How could this all have happened so fast? Max had just been with them a couple hours ago, and now she was in the hands of the enemy being tortured or possibly already dead. She walked out of the room, feeling her head start spinning. She wanted to go lay down, but instead of heading to the house she shared with Zack, Sandeman, and Chelsea, she went to Max's apartment. She still had the key, so she let herself in and lay down on the bed. The whole place still smelled like Max, it was just so hard to believe that she might never come back to it. 

Zack poked his head in the open door. Brin saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and raised her head to look at him. "I didn't think anyone noticed me leave."

He smiled gently as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the end of it, resting a hand on her leg to comfort her. "I notice everything you do."

She forced a smile back. "Does this mean I should consider you a stalker?"

"Not quite, just more of a concerned friend."

Brin turned her head away from him. "Which is it? Are you my brother, my friend, or something else? Not all of the things that have happened between us have been able to fit under those categories."

He sighed, she would never let this go. "What do you want me to be? I keep telling you that I didn't mean for those couple days during your heat cycle to happen."

"That's the problem."

Now he was confused. "What's that supposed to mean? First you want me to be your brother, then you change it to a friend, now you're telling me that the fact that it was an accident that one time bothers you?"

Brin struggled to hold back her tears. She wasn't sure what he'd say to this, but it was time to get it off her chest. "Did it ever occur to you that it hurt me? I don't mean physically, but the fact that you viewed that time as a mistake. Didn't you ever think it might have been because I wanted it to happen and you didn't?"

Zack had no clue what to say. That idea had never come to him, why would it have? As far as he could tell, she had never given any signs that she thought of him as more than a brother or a friend. He reached up the bed and took her hand in his, feeling her trembling from how nervous she was. "What are you trying to tell me?"

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, no matter how hard it was for her. "I'm trying to tell you that I think about that heat cycle almost every day, but not because I hate myself for it. It's because I had been waiting for something with you for a long time and I knew you would never do that again. Is it wrong to love someone you grew up thinking of as your brother?"

He pulled her up into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around her. "When did you start feeling this way?"

The fact that he wasn't pushing her away because of her feelings made Brin feel a little better about it. Maybe she wasn't as disgusting as she thought. "After I came to live with you at the farm, you were the only one who really worked to bring me back to reality. You didn't baby me like everyone else, you treated me like you would treat any other disobedient soldier. The fact that I had gone through reindoctrination didn't faze you at all. You only treated me friendly after I started recovering. The only reason I even started getting better was because a part of me was hurting over the fact that you weren't trying to help me like everyone else. I hated that you weren't being the big brother I remembered, but that started up my emotions. After that, everything else just sort of came naturally. Once I was better and understood what you had done, I loved you for it. You were the only person who knew enough about me to know what would make me get better."

"You always hated not being the center of attention."

Brin couldn't help but chuckle, but her mind was brought back to the conversation. "I guess I really don't know when it happened, but by the time my heat cycle came around I was in love with you. You don't hate me, do you?"

"How could you even think that? I could never hate you no matter what happened."

"Then why did you regret what happened between us?"

Zack sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. "I guess because I figured you regretted it. To tell you the truth, I don't know how I really feel about it but I definitely don't regret it."

Brin made a split-second decision that she was sure would earn her his fist in her jaw, but she acted before she could fully think it through. She pulled away from his embrace and grabbed the back of his head, then pulled his face to hers. She could feel his surprise as she pressed her lips against his, but he didn't try to get away. In fact, he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. That was the last thing she would have expected, but she wasn't unhappy about it.

When they sat back from the kiss, they were both completely breathless. After several moments of silence, Zack leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Brin. I know it seems wrong, but you're not the only one who's been dealing with a lot of feelings lately."

Brin didn't know what to say. The only thing she could feel was pure ecstasy that she wasn't the only one feeling this way. Still, the events going on had to come first, this could be continued later.

"Should we get back to the Rec Center?"

Zack sighed, then nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

* * *

Max rolled her eyes as Isaac and Levanna shoved Ames into the room and heard them mutter something to him about remembering who he was before they left. 

"Why are you in here?"

"They decided it was punishment for me. Under normal circumstances they would be right, but this time it's different."

Max felt a slight chill, that didn't sound too good for her. "What are you talking about?"

He smiled coldly as he walked towards her. "They have all their plans laid out to start on Thursday because I told them that was when the last of our supplies would be in, but it has actually already arrived."

She frowned, leaning as far away from him as her restraints would allow. "Why would you keep that from them? Aren't you all working for the same thing?"

"Mostly, but not quite. Their plan would get my son back, but it wouldn't get me vengeance. Kay told me that my son was dead, looking straight into my eyes the whole time. I trusted her, I didn't think she had a reason to lie to me about that. Apparently I was wrong. I want her to pay for making me suffer over my son's death when I didn't have to. That's where you come in. They just gave me the best way to get everything over with without having to wait."

Max didn't know what to say, but every part of her wanted to know his plan. The other thing that was in the back of her mind was what she had picked up on in the conversation. He may not have noticed it, but she sure did. He hadn't called Kay by her number, he'd called her by her name.

Watching as Ames pulled out his cell phone which they had unfortunately not taken away from him, she only heard two words come from his mouth. "It's time."

* * *

Kay stepped over a piece of glass on the floor, being careful not to make a peep. She was so close to the soldier she could smell his breath, despite the fact that he was facing away from her. After trying to decide where to head first, she figured she would go to the people that Logan had indicated when he was talking to Zack, the soldiers that guarded Terminal City. 

Dashing around a corner as the soldier started to turn around, she felt a huge rush of relief as the soldier's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open, completely oblivious to the woman standing not even five feet away from him. Kay strained her hearing as hard as she could, trying to hear the person on the other end of the line. The only thing she heard was "It's time." She immediately recognized Ames's voice. Even though she couldn't be sure, it was pretty obvious that he was talking about the attack on Terminal City.

After she heard the click on the other end of the line and the soldier hung up, Kay snuck away to head back downstairs, not noticing who else followed her down. He watched her take off down the road, smiling to himself. He knew what was going on and he had no doubt that it would be interesting. It appeared that the game had begun.


	17. Clash Of The Titans

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 17: Clash of the Titans

Kay had just headed out the door of the building when the shot rang out. The first thing she did was instinctively look down and check her body for a wound, then once she was satisfied she hadn't been shot she looked around for the shooter. The sound had come from above her, so it had probably been one of the soldiers guarding Terminal City. He must have seen a transgenic out in the open. Kay didn't know why she cared, but she looked around the corner and tried to see who had been shot. Her heart stopped at the sight.

Sandeman was crumpled in a heap on his side, his body trembling slightly. Kay rushed to the fence to get as close to him as she could, then tried to call out to him.

"Sandeman! Are you alright? Where did you get shot?"

His head lifted off the ground at the sound of her voice. She felt a surge of relief, he couldn't be that bad off if he could respond to her. Then again, the Familiars had a habit of staying mobile and coherent up until they actually died. He opened his mouth a little, as if he was trying to speak, then shut it again. He moved his arm off his side, letting her see that he had been shot in the ribs. Kay's heart stopped again, that must have hit his left lung and maybe even his right if it went all the way through him. She felt like throwing something at him when he started to crawl towards her.

"Are you really so stupid? You shouldn't be moving after getting shot like that, it'll make you lose blood faster."

The old man made his way to the fence, then slid something through a tiny opening in it. "I'm already as good as gone. Get...this...to....." His voice started to fade out as he came close to losing consciousness. Kay grabbed what he held in his hand before he dropped it. It appeared to be a vial full of blood.

"Who do I get this to?"

"Max," he gasped out, then his lifeless body collapsed completely. Kay stared down at him for several minutes, then got her ass in gear. She pocketed the vial, she would get it to Max later. Right now she had a crazed cult to stop. In her hurry she never noticed her follower disappear. It was time for him to get started.

* * *

Max jumped as the silence of the room was broken by Thula slamming the door open. Her eyes were blazing as she glared at Ames, and Max saw her slipping a syringe into her pocket. 

"You started it, you fucking bastard!" She threw a hard punch at him, but he just smiled and dodged it. He had the advantage at the moment of being a little more level-headed than her right now.

"Started what?" he asked innocently. She tried to hit him again, but once more he evaded her.

"What do you mean 'started what'?" she almost shrieked. "They barely had time to make enough of the virus to kill half that stadium, and you sent everything into play?" She pulled the syringe out of her pocket and shoved it in his face. "They were in the middle of taking yet another injection from me when they got the news that people are headed for Terminal City to bring out the transgenics. What could possibly make you do something so suicidal? That's what it is too, suicide. I just hope they give me the pleasure of killing you."

"You'll never get the chance," he hissed, then pulled out the gun he had hidden in his jacket earlier and slammed her over the head with it. He may not have been stronger than her, but he was more than strong enough to knock her unconscious.

Max stiffened as he approached her and lifted her up easily so he could slip the chain of her handcuffs off the hook it was hanging on. Slinging her over his shoulder, he shoved the door open the rest of the way and stepped out into the main basement room. Lenore was the first one to make a move towards him, but she found herself with a bullet in her forehead before she could take two steps.

Hearing something near her, Max lifted up her head enough so she could see Isaac standing right in front of her, which meant he was right behind White. As much as she wanted to see White die right now, he was the one carrying her out of here. She tapped the back of his leg hard enough to get his attention.

"Turn around, dumbass," she snapped. Ames managed to turn around just in time to avoid the knife that came slicing through the air at his chest. Thinking quickly, he leaned forward and brought Max into his arms in front of him then swung her out so her legs connected with Isaac's ribs. The force of it was enough to send Isaac flying sideways, which gave Ames the time to get the hell out of that basement.

Max rolled her eyes as he set her down on her feet. "I may have been made to be a weapon, but I don't think Manticore quite intended for me to be used like that."

"Didn't they teach you to use whatever's handy?" he quipped as he pushed her in front of him all the way outside. Finding the first car with keys in it that he could, he shoved her into the passenger side. He was getting to that stadium before the fun began, he needed to make sure that Kay could see Max clearly when she arrived. He was sure she would come, she always seemed to show up where she could cause the most trouble.

* * *

Ray couldn't have been more relieved when he looked out the window of his grandfather's house and saw Kay approaching. He thought Logan was okay, but he got along with Kay better. She was like a big sister to him. The expression on her face was worrying him though. 

Logan tensed when the door swung open and he saw Kay standing there. He still wasn't quite over everything she'd done. "What are you doing back here? Did you find Max?"

"No, but we've got other things to worry about. I went to the guard buildings around Terminal City to see if any of the soldiers were talking about what was going on, and I found out that someone decided to start it early. You'll probably get your chance to see Max in a couple hours, if it even takes that long."

Logan was confused when she shoved a vial into his hand. Why did it look like it was filled with blood? "We also lost Sandeman. For some reason he was hell-bent on getting this to Max, so I'll leave that to you. By the way, you're going to be my ride. We need to pick up the others if we're going to put a stop to this."

"There's no way we can take all those transgenics to the stadium, they wouldn't make it a mile without getting killed."

"We'll tell them to wait a half hour. In about ten minutes the news will have gone around that there's going to be a massacre and anyone that hates transgenics, which is about the entire population of Seattle, is going to go to the stadium. In a half hour there's going to be almost no normal person walking the streets of Seattle, there'll be a swarm of people headed out of town to watch a mass murder. They'll get what they asked for, but it won't be my people who are dying. It'll be those damned Familiars."

Ray's head snapped up. "Can I come?"

Kay looked down at him nervously, maybe she shouldn't have said anything like that around him. "Sorry kiddo, but this is a job for grownups. I want you to stay here, okay?"

"Fine."

She nodded her head in satisfaction. "Good. Logan, let's go."

As they climbed into Logan's Aztec, neither one of them noticed Ray slide into the back.

* * *

Zack frowned as the volume of the screams outside increased. There were usually crowds of protesters out there, but it seemed like they had multiplied by 50 since the last time he's listened to them. He sure hoped Logan was right about the attack being on Thursday, but it would be just his luck if they came today. 

Jondy was pacing nervously around the Rec Center, never ceasing her movement. Alec had been sitting there watching her for the longest time, but decided it was better to let her have at it. It might just be the last thing he ever did if he interrupted her train of thought. He knew how worried she was about Max, he was worried too, but it was different for Jondy. She had just gotten her sister back, now she had lost her again.

Brin shot her sister an annoyed look, the sounds of the pacing were starting to really bug her. Walking behind Alec, she gave him a sharp pinch on the shoulder. "Go get her to stop."

He rolled his head back so he could look up at her from the chair he was sitting in. "Are you kidding? She'll kill me!"

She snorted. "That's why I want you to do it."

"Gee, thanks," he grumbled as she headed towards Zack and left him to deal with Jondy. "I'm not going to die, I'm not going to die, I'm..." He froze as he came up behind Jondy and she turned to look at him, her eyes as cold as ice. "Going to die."

"What do you want?"

He choked on his own breath for a moment, Jondy could be terrifying to look at when she was angry. "I want to help you calm down."

"If you wanted to help, you could have left me alone. I'm handling it on my own," she growled. Just as she started to turn away from him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a kiss. Her body stiffened for a moment, then she relaxed and kissed him back.

"That's not going to help anything, it's just going to distract me."

"Hey, if it keeps your mind off things."

Zack scowled as he watched the two of them share another kiss. He didn't like the thought of his sister being with Alec, that guy was the type to use women and leave them. Jondy was more delicate than she looked, he just didn't want her to wind up getting hurt.

The screams were getting louder outside. Brin walked over to the door of the Rec Center and peeked out, then drew her head back in just as a loud explosion was heard. Her face was dead white as she turned to face the others. "They just blew up part of the fence."

Zack's long legs carried him quickly towards the door. "Let's go. Now."

* * *

Max grunted as Ames roughly strapped her to a pole in the center of the football stadium. She was now a good fifty feet off the ground, the steps leading up to where she was hanging went rather high. It gave her a good view of the entire area, but it also gave others a very good view of her. She had the feeling that was the purpose. 

"I hope you enjoy watching the others die, it should be a good show."

"Is that why you started everything early? Couldn't you handle the wait?"

He shrugged as he finished securing her legs. "I knew they would find about my times with Kay, and I knew they would lock me away. That would mean I wouldn't get my son back. They probably would have retrieved him, but they wouldn't let me see him. That's something I simply can't deal with. Starting things early puts things under my control."

"And just what are you going to do once you get Ray back? It's not like you can keep going with your life in the cult."

"That doesn't really bother me. I'll just take Ray away after I get him back. The cult never needs to know where I am."

Max laughed. "There's just one little problem with that, genius."

"What's that?"

"If the Familiars succeed with the Coming, you won't be able to go into hiding! It'll only be Familiars and transgenics left, and neither one of them will accept you! Did you ever thing of that?"

Ames was caught completely off guard. The truth was that that had never entered his mind. He had just been so set on getting Ray back that he hadn't bothered to see anything else. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he was going to have to do something about it. What the hell was he going to do about this? _Should I ask the Conclave for forgiveness? Hell no, they'll laugh in my face. The only other thing I can do is stop the Coming, but that's as good as suicide! Wait, there is one other thing. Shit, I can't believe I'm doing this._

He pulled out one of the several syringes in his pocket, everyone had been given the equipment just in case more of Thula's blood was needed. This way anyone who was nearby could take it. Max tried to jerk away as he pushed the needle into the vein in her arm and filled the syringe with her blood. He proceeded to do this with every syringe, which meant he removed quite a bit of blood. There had been several syringes in his pocket, at least five thick ones and about ten slimmer ones. He accidentally dropped an empty one as he worked, but that didn't matter. He definitely had enough.

Max was stunned as he reached up and loosened one of the cuffs. It was just enough for her to squeeze her hand through while still looking like she was securely chained up. She couldn't help but feel suspicious. "Why are you doing this? You may as well just completely untie me."

"I don't want it to be too obvious. Besides, I figured all you would need is one arm. There is only one thing I expect from you, you will wait to free yourself until Kay arrives. I will be waiting somewhere in the stands with a gun just in case you decide to disobey me. Just know that I am a very good shot."

His eyes held a meaningful look. He was right, she could get herself loose now when she wanted to. She watched as Ames walked away, his head slowly going back and forth to make sure the others hadn't arrived yet. She sighed and leaned her head back against the pole. This was going to be a long wait.

* * *

Logan couldn't believe it as he sat in the Aztec, waiting for Kay to come back out of Foggle Towers. Why hadn't he thought of this before? It wouldn't have been hard at all to get all the transgenics into his old apartment building, it should have occurred to them earlier that this was where Kay had taken them. He caught a glimpse of her talking to Joshua on the first floor. He felt a little relieved when he saw that Joshua was holding Tahira. At least the baby was okay. In fact, she might have been the first to die if she had been in Terminal City when the attack came. 

Horror suddenly hit Logan. Why hadn't he called Zack at Terminal City to warn them things were starting early? Kay had dragged him out the door so fast that it hadn't occurred to him then, but now it was the first thing on his mind. They needed to be prepared for the attack. He pulled the glove compartment open and grabbed his cell phone. They needed to know now, even though he worried that he might already be too late.

Just as the phone started to ring on the other end, his door flew open and Kay ripped the phone from his hands. He looked up at her in shock. "What did you do that for?"

"You were calling Terminal City. I couldn't let you do that. We couldn't give them time to prepare a defense, we need them to be taken to the stadium if we're ever going to face the cult out in the open."

"I don't care about the damn cult, I want the people in Terminal City to be safe."

"You may not care about the cult, but I do. I'm just doing what I was made to do, I'm going to kill my real people."

"What do you mean 'your real people'?"

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you ever wonder why I was so much stronger than the rest? I'm a hybrid, more-so than the others."

Logan couldn't believe it. "You mean you're a Familiar/transgenic crossing?"

"Yep. I wasn't just created in a lab like the others."

Logan's face went pale. "You're Thula's sister. I noticed the resemblance once, but I didn't really give it more thought."

Kay smiled a little. "I'm impressed, for being an ordinary you're pretty smart."

Logan turned in his seat as she took her place on the passenger side. He was surprised to see the transgenics pouring out of the building. "What's going on? I thought you were going to tell them to wait."

"After all the people we saw on our way over here, I don't think they're going to run into trouble. Things are going to go much faster than I thought they would. We're looking at maybe an hour here, not even. We'll have to get going fast if we're going to end this thing before the Coming is set off. Pull over, there's someone I have to talk to."

Logan obediently pulled over, watching as she got out and walked into an alley. He could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes peer out at him, but they were gone before he could get a good second look.

Kay hopped back into the Aztec. "Let's go."

* * *

Kay's follower made his way into the small house he'd been living in. He heard a grunt of pain come from the living room. He made his way to it, his eyes taking in the scene he'd come home to every day now for the last two months. His roommate lay flopped across the couch as his body convulsed. The doctor had said this would be normal until he recovered, that his mind needed to get itself sorted out again. The only thing he had to do was carry out his friend's wishes. That meant they would have to go to the stadium. As he carefully helped his friend climb to his feet and walk towards the door, he wondered if his friend would be coming back from this with his mind still intact.

* * *

Jondy leaned against Alec, curling herself into a ball as she heard the sounds of people crying outside. The four of them were hiding in a cubby-hole they had found the other day. It was the only place they could hide to avoid being caught. There were more people attacking than they had thought, there were nearly 2,000 out there. That was more than enough to overtake the transgenics. Children could be heard crying outside as their parents were ripped away, gunshot after gunshot rang out to silence their screams. Jondy shuddered with every blast, she couldn't believe she was hearing this. 

Zack felt almost dead inside. He had always thought of himself as a good leader of the X5s, but in all his years of protecting them from Manticore he had never prepared himself for this. Although these people weren't his responsibility, he still felt like a coward for hiding away while they were dragged out of the place they had come to think of as home.

"Chelsea," he whispered almost too low to be heard. Brin, who was sitting closest to him, just barely managed to catch it. She realized that the little girl was probably at the house they shared with Sandeman. There was no chance a little girl like her could have gotten away, she was either dead by now or being dragged away to be killed.

"We'll get her after the people are gone, but we aren't going to be any good to these people if we get caught," she whispered back to him. She was just loud enough for him to hear, they were trying to keep this quiet from Jondy and Alec. Brin wrapped an arm around Zack from behind and kissed his cheek. She felt his muscles relax slightly, but not much.

Everyone jumped as something fell hard against the opening to their hiding place. Luckily, the door didn't open, but it was enough of a scare for them to cause Zack to shove open the door. He was sick of hiding, and he planned on going after them before they came after him. Still, he immediately regretted opening that door.

Alec squeezed Jondy tight against him as Luke's body fell into their hiding place. He felt her body go stiff like a board in his arms. Sliding so he was between her and Luke, he managed to get them both out of their little hole. His eyes met Brin's as she looked down at her sister with concern. They both knew how Jondy could be. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she was probably the most emotional out of any of the X5s.

Most of the other transgenics had already been dragged away, so the area they stepped out into was almost empty. Whoever had shot Luke was already gone, apparently they had decided to head for the stadium now. Zack grabbed Brin's hand and gestured for Alec to bring Jondy along as he headed for the new large opening in the fence. The only time they stopped was when they passed his house, but Chelsea was nowhere to be seen inside it. His only consolation was that there was no blood in any of the rooms.

Once they were out of the city, looking back at its emptiness, they forced themselves to keep going for the stadium. This had to end now.

* * *

Max watched as more and more people filled the stadium. She heard catcalls in her direction, along with some boos. "Immature idiots," she muttered. She was sore from staying in this position for so long, but it wouldn't be wise to free herself until Kay made an appearance. Right now she would be killed by the mob if she tried to break loose. Besides, she wanted to put a stop to the killing. 

The Phalanxes, all except for Ames, walked into the main arena. Max noticed with some pride that Isaac was walking a little offbeat. Apparently the blow Ames had used her to give had made some dent in his perfection. Maverick stalked across the arena, his sharp eyes open to see if the people had arrived with the transgenics yet. He couldn't see anybody, but he could hear them coming. The shouts and protests of the transgenics were easy for his ears to pick up and he turned to smile triumphantly at Thula. She even indulged in a rare smile herself, she finally didn't have to hide and be protected behind thick walls anymore.

Max tensed as she saw the transgenics being led in. They were chained in rows, and anyone that was too tired to walk was being dragged by the others who weren't allowed to stop. She felt tears burn her eyes as Chelsea came into her view, badly beaten and struggling to stay on her feet. She recognized nearly every transgenic that was led through the door on the sides of the stadium, but some were missing. There were a few here and there that could have possibly just gotten away on their own, but she noticed that Zack, Alec, Brin, and Jondy weren't among the chained prisoners. She felt a surge of hope. If they had gotten away, there was a chance for them all.

The cheers from the stands was almost more than her sensitive hearing could take, but Max endured it. She couldn't get loose just yet, Ames was by now hidden in amongst the people in the stands and had a good view of her. He could shoot at any moment. For all she knew, he would shoot her as soon as he found a way to stop the Coming.

The crowd went silent as Thula stepped up onto a podium set up not too far from Max. "Ladies and gentlemen, you requested the chance to show these freaks what you think, but time and time again you were denied by blind, soft-hearted fools who don't know what these things are capable of! Now, we are giving you the chance to show them." She smiled slightly at one of the many camera crews that was nearby, she wanted to give the entire country as good a view as possible.

The stands went wild again as about ten transgenics were brought forward. Some people were pulled out of the crowd and a gun was handed to each of them. The transgenics were lined up against a white wall that had been set up, then were forced to turn around. Max wanted so badly to break loose and run down there, but she would be no good to these people if Ames shot her.

* * *

Kay shoved a gun into Logan's hands. "You're going in there armed, and if you have to shoot a few civilians in order to protect those transgenics then you're going to do it. I don't want anymore of my people to die." 

He looked at her nervously, she was dead-set on this. If he made one wrong move around her, she was likely to blow his head off. All he knew was that he had to get to Max, to hell with the others. Normally he wouldn't have thought like that, but a part of him was being selfish. He suspected that the vial of blood in his hands was the cure to the virus between him and Max, so why shouldn't he feel the powerful need to save her and give their relationship a chance? Still, he knew that she would never forgive him if he let her kind die just so he could get her out of there.

A scream rang out from one of the transgenics that was waiting on the sidelines. It was one of the little kids, screaming because her father was out there. From her position Kay could see what was going on, and she didn't like it one bit. Slowly pulling out her gun, she took aim on Levanna, who was standing off to the side of the white wall. She was the first to fire a gun as Levanna made the countdown for the ordinaries. Counting down from ten, she had just reached three when she was hit straight in the head. Screams burst from the crowd as she slumped down to the ground lifelessly. That was when all hell broke loose.

The transgenics that had been hiding in Foggle Towers now poured from the stands. The freaks had been covering their heads with hoods, in the excitement no one had bothered to wonder if there were transgenics in the crowd. The psy-ops and X series leapt straight out into the middle of the arena, attacking any Familiars within arms length. Now the ratio was very different, the transgenics outnumbered the cult here by four to one.

Zack, Brin, Alec, and Jondy slid out in the midst of the confusion, going completely unnoticed by everyone in the arena. They headed straight for Max, who was still looking out at the mass of freaks around her. Where was Kay? As soon as her sister showed up, she could free herself and get her kind out of here.

Zeke, who had been watching everything from the stands, finally made his way out into the crowd that was gathering. He grabbed the first camera he could get to, making the cameraman run away in terror. Signaling one of the other psy-ops to do what he was doing, he turned the camera back on and focused it on Thula. This whole thing would be worthless to them unless the public found out what they were doing here.

Soon every camera in the stadium had been taken over by transgenics. They all had theirs focused on the Familiars that were in their sight. Transgenics that were near the cult members tore at their sleeves, making sure the Caduceus could be seen on every left arm.

Thula pushed her way through the crowd. They had to set off the gas, it had to be done before all the ordinaries ran out of the stadium. This could still happen, and she intended to make sure it did. That was when she realized she was being followed.

Max and Ames both looked in the same place at the same time. As soon as Max spotted her sister by Thula, she pulled her hand out of the handcuffs and leaned down to free her legs. It took a little while, but she managed. By the time she lifted her head again, Thula, Kay, and Ames were nowhere to be seen.

Thula was nearly out of breath, she had run the entire way into the heat room where they were storing the gas. This stadium was made so that there were heaters under everyone's feet, this was because the games here became so cold that not many people were going. This stadium was supposed to take care of that problem. Of course, it also provided the perfect way to distribute the Coming.

Kay slid into the room behind her real sister. She could see Thula reaching to open one of the tanks that held the diseased gas. That was when she attacked. Thula barely even knew what hit her as her head was sent crashing into the tiled floor. Regaining her composure almost right away, she stood up and took a defensive position. Her eyes widened when they landed on Kay. Although they didn't look completely alike, there was definitely a resemblance.

Kay grinned when she saw the look on Thula's face. "What, are you jealous Mom gave the looks to me?" At the horror that could be seen on Thula's face, Kay grinned and attacked. Move for move, they matched each other. Kay didn't let everything out just yet, she wanted to study her opponent. Thula was a good fighter, there was no doubt about that, but she had some flaws. She didn't have the agility that Kay did, nor the speed. Their strength was probably equal, as was their determination. Neither one planned to lose this fight, and neither one planned to let the other one leave this room alive.

Kay nearly cried out when Thula landed a hard hit on her gut. The strange, sharp pains that had been nagging her all day suddenly exploded. She saw the whole world turn several bright colors in less than a second. Sensing another attack coming, she jumped up and gripped the pipes above her. As Thula just barely managed to stop herself from moving forward with her original attack, Kay clamped her knees on both sides of her sister's head. Taking a deep breath and gathering her strength, she slammed her knees together as hard as she could. As soon as Thula dropped to the floor, Kay let herself come down from the ceiling. Her gut felt like it was being ripped in half. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming. That was when she heard a gun go off right behind her.

* * *

Max lunged down the stairs, heading straight for Maverick. He was holding up Gem by the throat and was about to snap her neck when Max took aim and kicked him in the groin from behind. Even though it wasn't a direct hit, it obviously hurt like a bitch. Gem was dropped to the ground in an instant as his legs buckled. Max couldn't convince herself to do anything more to him, but she didn't have to. Gem reached forward and snapped his neck without even blinking. 

"Bastard," she grumbled as she headed for the next Familiar in sight. Max only remained stunned for a moment, then whirled around as someone grabbed her shoulder. Before she could get a good look at who was there, she threw a punch into his face. That was when the whole world seemed to stop.

Logan looked at Max in horror. "Max..." It was all he was able to get out before he collapsed to the ground. Her entire body shook as she looked down at him.

"Logan, oh God no!" She dropped down next to him and nearly burst into tears as her eyes fell on his gloved hands. He had just been trying to get her attention safely, and she had pretty much ensured his death. His eyes were bleary, but they remained looking up at her with all the strength that she associated with him.

"My pocket...cure," he managed to gasp out. Max was confused, but she reached down and started to dig through each pocket, making sure not to touch his skin in the process. Finally, her fingers closed on the vial and she pulled it out, nearly breaking it in her rush. She couldn't help but be completely confused. This was a vial of blood, how could this help?

"Cure..." he choked out again. Max heard and understood it now. She turned and took off back up the stairs to where she had been tied. She dropped to her knees on the tiny platform, searching all over with her hands. Finally, her hand found the syringe Ames had dropped earlier. Not wasting any time, she ran back to where she had left him. Her heart stopped as she reached the spot, he wasn't there. Where was he?

* * *

Kay looked down at herself to make sure there was no exit wound, then turned around. Ames stood there, his gun still held out in front of him. Thula's blood was pouring out over the floor from where he had shot her. Kay couldn't move for fear that her gut wouldn't be able to take it. The pain was steadily growing worse, why wouldn't it stop? 

"What did you do that for?"

"Why do you think? Where do you have my son?"

"You think I'm really going to send him to live with you? That kid won't last a week."

He punched her in the stomach, making her cry out and collapse to the ground in pain. "I'll deal with you in a moment. First I have to do something."

Digging the syringes full of Max's blood out of his pockets, Ames carefully jammed each one into the hose connected to the tanks of the virus and emptied them, letting Max's blood run down into the tanks. Kay rolled her eyes.

"That's not going to do any good, you need the blood of the anti-key."

"Well, chances are whoever it is can be found somewhere around here. This couldn't hurt anything at least. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kay's eyes had widened as she looked up at him and realization hit her. Ames, Sandeman, C.J., Ray, the entire family was men. The anti-key would have been one of the original Familiars, so it had to be a Phalanx. Using strength that she couldn't believe she had left, she grabbed his arm and one of the syringes and jabbed the needle into his arm. She filled the syringe up, then jabbed it into the hose. Ames was completely caught off guard.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't you get it? You're the anti-key! Your father knew, that's why he gave some of his own blood to Max. He wanted to help her with her and Logan's virus. There's no other explanation. Didn't you ever wonder why you're second-in-command? It wouldn't surprise me if the anti-key is almost as strong as the key, so you're definitely it!"

Ames picked up Thula and slung her over his shoulder. "You know what, I don't care anymore. I had pretty much already decided to leave the cult, now that decision's been made for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get rid of this," he said sarcastically. He didn't let her see the pain in his eyes as he left the room. Finding out that you yourself are the enemy was not an easy thing to go through, especially for him.

Kay's body went into spasms of pain as she curled helplessly up into a ball. God, she'd never felt pain this intense before in her life. She didn't see the person who staggered into the room while being held up by her follower, nor did she see the follower leave. She lifted her head up slowly when she heard a grunt of pain as her visitor lowered himself to sit across the room from her.

No, wake up now Kay. God, no, go away. NONONONONONONONONONONO! The screams in her head raged on as her eyes landed on her visitor. This couldn't be happening, but it definitely was. God, everything was over now.


	18. Strange Omens

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 18: Strange Omens

Max's sharp eyes darted over the crowd as she ran back up the stairs to the platform where she could see more. Where could Logan have gone? He certainly wasn't in good enough shape to go anywhere under his own steam. That was her fault too. If only she had looked to see who was tapping her shoulder before she punched him, it wasn't like he had tapped her threateningly.

It was impossible to see anything in the scene of chaos before her. The fight was never-ending between the Familiars and transgenics. There were even some ordinaries out there, but Max was willing to bet they wouldn't last long. She was still shaking from head to toe when she was tapped on the shoulder yet again. This time she didn't throw a punch right away.

"Alec?"

His bold eyes immediately looked concerned when he saw her face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find Logan anywhere! I hit him when I didn't know who he was and the virus took over again! I only went to get a syringe, I figured he could get another transfusion from another transgenic, but when I came back he was gone!"

"Is there a chance that he got up and left on his own, maybe to get out of harm's way?"

She shook her head fiercely. "No, he wasn't nearly strong enough to walk out on his own."

"He could have always asked another transgenic he knew for help, did you ever consider that?"

"Oh come on, Logan has too much pride for that. He wouldn't just ask some transgenic, not even Joshua, if they could carry him out of here."

He rubbed her arm gently. "Don't worry, I'll help you find him. Why don't you go check outside the fight and I'll look around in this mess?"

She sighed and nodded, wrapping her arms around herself and hugging herself close. "Okay, I just hope he's okay." She pulled the vial of blood out of her pocket. "We might have finally found a way to be together."

* * *

Kay couldn't believe it. It just didn't seem real, but there were too many strange things for it not to be real. Although she could still recognize him, he had changed greatly. The left side of his face still looked normal, but the right side's skin was strangely scar-like. It didn't look like normal skin. His right eye also had a strange film over it, he probably couldn't see out of it clearly. His body was much thinner than it used to be, and not in a healthy way either. It looked like his muscles had practically wasted away, that was probably why he was sitting now. 

"Ben? Is that you?" Kay forced her aching body up into a sitting position. Ignoring the sharp pains in her gut, she focused her attention on him.

A strange smile covered his face, making it look rather grotesque. "Is it that hard for you to recognize me, or did you simply forget about me?"

She shuddered at his voice, it held a deadened ring to it that seemed strangely familiar. "Of course I didn't forget about you! What in the world could make me?"

His eyes flashed to the puddle of blood on the floor that was the only evidence that Thula had even been in the room. "I can come up with a few things."

"How much do you know?" she asked weakly. It wasn't like she needed to ask, she could see by the look on his face that he knew everything.

"I don't know if the information I have is everything that's happened, but it's some of it. I heard that you slept with White, not to mention caused hell for Max when you took half the transgenics out of Terminal City. I even saw on the news that you befriended the X2s. That disturbed me almost more than everything else. As much as your other actions have proved my childhood beliefs about you correct, that was the final straw. As far as I'm concerned, you've been on the side of the enemy the entire time I've known you."

"That's not true! That was the first time I'd come across the X2s since we were kids. About the other transgenics, they were already planning to escape, I just helped out after they came up with a plan. As for White, that was a disgusting mistake that I pushed from my mind right after it happened."

Ben's smile grew even colder. "You make it all seem so easy. You had an explanation ready for everything, explanations that might make a normal man forgive you. Still, as you know, I'm no normal man and I have no intention of forgiving you. You have no idea what I went through. I kept your image in my head just so I could survive, then I found out that everything I'd ever believed about you was a lie. You have no idea how quickly that changes a person's heart."

Kay could feel her heart slowly sinking. Every pain in her body dulled to a throb as the words he was saying made their impact. "What happened to you? I thought you were dead."

"What happened to me? Hell, that's what happened. I never died, no matter how much it may have looked like it. White had good aim, I'll give him that, but it was just slightly off. My body, just like every X5's, is made to survive under the toughest circumstances. What the bullet actually did was it blew off the right half of my skull, but missed my brain. My body went into immediate lockdown, everything slowed down almost to a stop. If you had taken a closer look at me before you left, you would have noticed I was still breathing. You know, I don't think the thought that anyone else in that building was alive ever occurred to you, when it should have been obvious. After shooting most of the Familiars coming through the window, the Skeptic found me. He dragged me out before the explosion, I even saw Zack looking for you afterwards.

"I got to know a lot about the Skeptic when he was taking care of me. For one thing, his name is Chris. He took me to a house here in Seattle and got me to a hospital. They put a metal plate over the exposed part of my head and didn't let the skin grow back until my bone did. I guess I should be thankful to Manticore for giving us that ability, but later I wound up wishing I could have died. Growing bone isn't exactly painless, I had seizures almost nonstop for the first week. After that the pain eased off a bit, but I wasn't allowed to get up for anything, I needed total bed rest. It wasn't until about a week ago that they removed the metal plate and let my skin grow back. That's why it doesn't look just right at the moment. It also temporarily blinded my right eye, but that'll recover soon.

"You were the only thing I ever thought about during those weeks. As my body was going to waste, I thought of you. During every seizure when Chris was out working and I didn't have anyone to sit by me, I imagined you were sitting right next to me. After a while, you were pretty much the only thing on my mind, so Chris decided to help me. He said he would try and see if he could get into Terminal City and ask about you, but he wound up seeing you before anyone else. He saw you in a house with Sandeman, and he was about to go in and talk to you when Zack came to see you. Chris listened to every word of that conversation and shared every last detail with me. According to what he heard, you had been kidnapped by White and slept with him. After hearing that, he came back and told me, pretty much figuring I wouldn't want anything more to do with you. He was dead wrong.

"I asked him to keep an eye on you full time. He saw Zack throw you down with White when you were in heat, he saw you meet with that Familiar Sate, and he even watched the entire escape. This all came as a shock to me, but I still somehow loved you up until the point when I saw you on TV talking to the X2s. That as good as destroyed everything I ever felt for you. Wait, I take that back. It brought back how I felt when I first met you again all those months ago. I wished I could tear you limb from limb for everything you'd done to my family."

Kay couldn't listen to this. She couldn't believe Ben would say these things to her, even after what she'd done. She knew that her actions hurt him, but it couldn't have ruined everything, could it? "Ben, I used the X2s, that's all. I'd heard about the attacks they were making on Familiars and realized that they were heading in the direction of the Seattle Times Building. I took Sate there because I knew they would realize what he was and attack him. I only spoke to them to keep them from attacking me."

Now Ben's eyes made him look dangerous, even in spite of the film over the right one. "That's a flat out lie, and you know it. They're here tonight, I saw them."

"They're helping the other transgenics fight the Familiars. I don't see why you'd have a problem with that." Kay knew she was bristling against him, becoming defensive, but she couldn't help it. It was like he couldn't understand anything she'd done. She wasn't perfect, he knew that, so why was he pushing this? She had never meant to outright hurt him, she hadn't even thought he was alive, so how could he blame her?

"I don't have a problem with that, I just don't like that you feel the need to hide the fact that you're asking for their help with this. You just told me that you only spoke to them to keep them from attacking you, but you must have spoken to them again later to get them to show up here. That means you knew where to find them."

"Of course I knew where to find them, I'm the one who set up their hiding place!" She was sick of this, there was nothing wrong with the X2s. They were crazy, but their hatred at the moment was focused on the Familiars, which worked perfectly for her.

"So now you're helping them?"

"If you have to know, yes I am helping them. They're useful with helping to stop the cult, why shouldn't I repay them for what they've done for me? It's called common courtesy Ben, look it up."

Ben's fists clenched the sides of his pants. "Don't turn into a bitch around me, Kay, it wouldn't be in your best interest."

Kay normally would have listened to him, but her temper was starting to get the better of her. "Oh really? And what are you going to do Ben, you can't even stand up on your own! I may not be in perfect form right now, but I could certainly take you down if that's what it comes to."

His fists suddenly stopped clenching his pants as he looked her directly in the eyes. "Are you saying it'll come to that?"

Kay rolled her eyes in frustration. "Well I don't know what you want from me, Ben! Do you want me to throw myself on the ground in front of you and beg for forgiveness? Do you want me to apologize endlessly for everything I've done? Newsflash honey, it's not going to happen. You knew me so well once upon a time, what happened? Did you forget that I refuse to let myself be at someone else's mercy or give up my dignity for someone? I'm my own person, I'm not going to turn into some fairytale princess for you. I think that's what you always pictured me as, you never really got to know me. You thought you did, and maybe you were closer than most people, but you never truly knew me. In your mind you turned me into something I wasn't, then it hit you hard when you found out I wasn't anything like your dream girl. God knows you're not the only one to blame, I played along with it for a while, but I don't think I could have lived through it much longer. I wasn't living as myself, I was living as what you wanted me to be. After I thought you were dead, I didn't know what to do with myself. I kept trying to imagine what you would do, but eventually I had to change it back to what I would do. I may not have been happy with my life, but I was in control of myself again and I don't want to go back to being that other mindless person. I like who I am now, and if that doesn't make you happy then I'm sorry you're so damned naive."

Ben sat in silence for a while and Kay couldn't believe what she had said. No matter how much her own words were true, she still loved him. In a very short time he had become her whole life and having him taken away was the worst thing to happen to her at the time. It was also a reawakening. Looking back on the time she had spent with Ben, she realized that a lot of her decisions had been based on what he would do, not what she would have normally chosen to do.

The silence was almost reaching the point where she was wondering if he'd fallen asleep, but then his cold voice cut through the air. "You're apparently not anything like I thought you were. I was foolish to ever fall in love with you. Who knows, maybe the only reason I felt anything for you was because we slept together and I felt responsible for you. I shouldn't have felt like that, you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, even at the expense of others."

"If you really feel that way, it might be best if you leave. I certainly don't want to have to confront you every day knowing that you hate me."

He cocked his head to the side. "Maybe that is best. I have my own life to get back to, that might be better for me than anything else. Chris!"

The Skeptic stepped through the doorway, looking exactly the same as he did the last time she had seen him. He offered a tiny smile in her direction, then he helped Ben to his feet. She watched their slowly retreating backs until they went around the corner, then she curled over and burst into tears, barely feeling the steadily increasing pain in her body.

* * *

Ames braced himself against the side of the tall tank that contained the acid. _Thula sure as hell was no lightweight when she was alive!_ His thoughts were his only distraction from what he was feeling. He knew that what he was doing was in the best interest of Ray and himself, but that didn't change how he felt about it. It was almost as bad as when he had killed Wendy. The cult was something he had devoted himself to his entire life, now he was working against it just so he could have his son. Even though he was doing this, there was no guarantee that Kay would even let him know where Ray was, but the chances went up. Besides, Max had been right about one thing, he would never be able to hide with Ray if only the transgenics and Familiars were left. 

Thula's body shifted uncomfortably on his shoulder. He was having a hard time keeping his balance with her there. "Even when you're dead you're causing problems for me!" he grumbled as he tried to get himself situated so he could walk straight. He never heard Isaac slip up behind him.

Isaac waited until Ames was moving again, then grabbed him from behind and clutched his head in both hands, ready to snap his neck. That was a big mistake on his part. Ames immediately dropped Thula and grabbed one of the arms holding onto his head, then flipped Isaac straight over his back and onto the ground in front of him. Isaac's ribs were already in bad shape, so that last blow didn't exactly make things great for him.

"Traitor!" he growled. "I heard everything, you're the anti-key when all along you were pretending to help find that family. I want to deal with you myself!"

Ames smirked down at his helpless work partner. "Go ahead and deal with me then." He put a foot on Isaac's chest, effectively holding him down. "Anytime you're ready," he quipped, holding up his wrist and pretending to look at his watch. Isaac gripped the leg holding him down and started to twist. Ames reacted right away, pushing his weight down on that foot and raising himself up onto it so he could kick Isaac in the face. When he was satisfied that Isaac was unconscious, he reached down and snapped his neck. He couldn't have anyone telling the elders about his bloodwork, that would make them come after him. At least if he just went away with Ray they might leave him alone.

Shoving off the lid of the tank of acid, he once again hoisted Thula onto his shoulders. He had to slide his way closer to the acid, otherwise he would have lost his balance and fallen in himself. He certainly wasn't interested in having that happen. He also had to slide Thula's body into the acid slowly, he didn't want it to splatter onto himself. Once he was sure that her body wouldn't be coming back, he left that particular corner of the arena, heading back for the heating room where Kay was.

* * *

Max almost tripped over her own feet as she rushed out of the stadium and into the parking lot. It was jam-packed with vehicles, mostly of news crews. The thing that upset her was that Logan could be hidden in any one of them. Well, there was only one way to find out. 

After nearly a half hour, Max had broken into almost every van in the parking lot. All she seemed to find was useless equipment and occasionally some ordinaries hiding from the fight. They always screamed when she opened the door, then just sat there quivering until she shut it again. This was driving her insane, Logan could be dead by now. It wasn't until she reached the last van that she came across something odd.

"Petey?"

The eccentric fox-man jumped at the sight of her, then blushed. "I couldn't take the fighting, so I got out. I was seeing some weird stuff in there."

"What kind of weird stuff?"

"That guy with the glasses that you used to be around all the time just went sliding out of there!"

"What do you mean 'went sliding out of there'?"

"Exactly what I said. He was on the ground, not looking too hot, when he just went sliding away on his back. It looked like a magnet was pulling him or something."

Max heard a sob from the somewhere in the van. "Who's in there with you?"

He shrugged. "Just some little girl. She saw the same thing I did, she just freaked out a little more."

Max looked around him and was relieved to see Chelsea sitting in the van. At least the little girl was okay. "Chelsea, what's wrong?"

"I saw the bad man," she whimpered almost too quietly to be heard. Max froze, she couldn't mean Sate, could she? That sure as hell wasn't good.

"Where did he go?"

Chelsea nervously leaned out of the side of the van and pointed off to her left. "He went into that house over there."

Max nodded as she spotted the house. "Okay, I want you to stay here and don't go anywhere, got it?"

The little girl nodded and curled back up inside the van. Max turned her eyes on Petey. "I don't want you leaving her side." Her tone of voice made it clear that he would regret it if he didn't listen to her.

Even though she couldn't hear anything as she approached the house, Max could almost feel that Logan was in there somewhere. "If Sate is in there with Logan, Logan had better be in good condition or Sate will find himself with his face rearranged," she growled menacingly as she stepped up onto the front porch.

The house appeared to be deserted, there was no furniture in any of the rooms and a thick layer of dust was spread over everything. It wasn't until her eyes fell on a track through the dust that she became worried. Something had been dragged through here recently, and it very easily could have been Logan.

A sound from upstairs caught her attention. Moving as stealthily as possible, she made her way up the creaking stairs. Suddenly, her leg went straight through one.

"Shit!" she snapped silently. Even an ordinary would have heard that easily enough, so Sate wouldn't have any trouble. After a moment of staying perfectly still, Max heard footsteps headed in her direction. Well, she still could surprise him a little.

Sate's tall frame came around the corner only to be thrown back against the wall by Max's leg. She smiled in satisfaction when he moved away from the wall and she saw that he had left an indent. She started to move forward again, but found herself being pushed down the stairs. It seemed like the air had gone cold around her suddenly, and that was when she realized that Sate was only looking at her, not touching her physically. _Great, here goes that damn mind thing again._

Max dug both heels into the ground and grabbed hold of the banister. It was about to break under her fingers, but she still held on. Eventually, Sate started coming down the stairs on his own to finish her off. She held on until the very last possible moment, then when he grabbed her and was about to throw her down the stairs, she clutched his arms and threw her weight backwards. They both went tumbling down the stairs, but she noticed that Sate seemed to get the worst of the ride. He wasn't in the best shape.

When they hit the floor, Max was the first to get back to her feet. Taking advantage of the time she had, she lunged up the stairs. She heard Sate get to his feet behind her and she knew she would have to make it up before he could start moving her with his eyes again. Rather, his one good eye, she had noticed the other one wasn't there anymore.

A strange noise from one of the upstairs bedrooms caught her attention. It sounded like someone breathing harshly, which only equaled Logan in her mind. She wondered how bad he was getting, the only good thing she could hear was that he was breathing. She hoped she could take that as a positive sign. It wasn't until she reached the top of the stairs that Sate got back on his feet and focused his eye on her. Max felt the familiar cold pull on her body and reached for the first thing she could. It was lucky for her that the doorframe on the other side of the hall was sturdy enough so that it didn't crumble apart under the force of Sate's pull. Logan's breathing became even more raspy as Max struggled to hold on. She just hoped this didn't take too long.

* * *

Alec was about ready to give up. He had been through the entire crowd several times, but to no avail. The only thing that he kept seeing was the ongoing fight, which was being taped by several other transgenics. He was also starting to get worried about Max, she should have been back from checking the perimeter by now. She wasn't someone to take her time, it shouldn't have taken her so long. He gritted his teeth as his eyes landed on someone who might be able to help him. _Oh how the mighty have fallen! _Sarcastic thoughts darted through his mind, but he didn't have any other choice. 

"Zack?"

Blue eyes greeted him coldly as Zack turned around to face him. "What do you want?"

"Help. Logan disappeared a while ago, Max had touched him and he was sick. We split up to look for him and now I haven't seen her for a while. Did you see her?"

Zack shook his head, he could care less that he had to talk to Alec about this now that he knew his sister was in trouble. "Have you seen Jondy and Brin? They could help us look, it would go a lot faster."

Alec glanced behind Zack and pointed. "Brin's right there, but I haven't seen Jondy."

"Problem solved. What do you guys need?" Jondy asked cheerily from behind him. Her cheery attitude didn't last too long.

* * *

Ray flattened himself against the wall of the locker room for at least the twentieth time. He had been hiding here ever since the fight had started, it had become too dangerous to stay in Logan's Aztec anymore. People were running out into the vehicles and hiding, and he just didn't feel safe around a lot of them. This locker room was the only quiet place in the entire area. Occasionally some people went by, that was when he threw himself against the wall. He didn't trust anyone here, he had already heard too many people scream as they died for him to feel comfortable around the people here. 

A thought had occurred to him several times while he was hiding away, if all the Phalanxes were here did that mean his father was too? He had seen Thula out front, and he'd spotted Levanna, Maverick, and Isaac later on. The only Phalanx he hadn't seen was Ames.

He had never understood why people kept trying to separate him from his father, why didn't they understand that he wanted to be with him? Everyone seemed to think his father was a bad man, although no one would ever say that to his face it was obviously what they thought. Did they think that he would turn into a bad man too? He didn't see what was wrong with taking your son trick-or-treating each year, or sitting outside the school window on his first day of kindergarten, or even calling in the middle of the night when it's his first sleepover. Those were the things he had learned from his dad, how could people think those made him a bad man?

Ray heard another set of footsteps coming down the hall and turned to flatten himself against the wall once more when he saw who was walking past. Staying near the wall the entire time, he poked his head outside the locker room door and watched his father's retreating back. Maybe he could get what he wanted after all.

* * *

Max's fingers were starting to bleed from the splinters they were receiving from the wood in the doorframe. Sate was now slowly moving up the stairs, keeping his eye on her at all times. He had to move slowly, otherwise he would lose his focus and give her a chance to get away. Logan's breathing had steadily been growing worse. Max was pretty sure she knew which room he was in, but she couldn't be positive. The creaks and groans of the old house were starting to confuse her. 

Sate clutched the banister tightly as he ascended the stairs. Despite his usual ignorance of pain, his body was in agony at the moment. The combination of the beatings from the X2s and Kay and now his fight with Max was starting to overwhelm him. It took all his energy to keep his eye on Max and go upstairs at the same time. His only problem was that he wasn't prepared for anything else.

Max felt the chill suddenly disappear and her body slumped against the wall with relief. Hearing the loud bangs behind her, she instinctively turned her head to see what she would have to protect herself against next. What she saw nearly terrified her.

One X2 was holding onto Sate's body, the rest were furiously beating on him. They weren't using any real fighting tactics, they were simply trying to cause damage. Chills went down her spine at seeing them in action, this time without a steel door separating them from her. After staring at them in horror for nearly a minute, she pulled herself out of her paralysis and lunged down the hallway towards the room where she was sure she had heard Logan's labored breathing coming from.

Logan was convulsing horribly on the floor of an old office, holding onto the leg of an old desk to try and hold himself still. Max wished so badly that she could hold onto him the way he had held her when she'd had seizures, but he was already so close to death that she wanted to at least give him a chance to get better. If she could just go get another transgenic she might be able to get him another blood transfer. _God, I can't wait that long!_

The vial suddenly nearly fell out of her pocket onto the floor. She just managed to catch it before it had the chance to shatter. Staring down at it, she made a decision she wished she wasn't forced to make. This was their only chance to be together, but Logan would die if he didn't get something in him. Since it didn't seem likely that he'd be getting a transgenic transfusion, this cure was the next best thing. She dropped onto the floor next to him and pulled the syringe from her pocket, ready to inject the vial of blood into him.

"Max," Logan choked out painfully. "Don't."

"What do you mean don't? Logan, you'll die if we don't get this into you!"

"Sandeman got it, but he's been killed. Once this is gone, we'll never have another shot. I can get another transfusion from a transgenic, but we need to hold onto that."

"How do you expect me to get another transgenic? They're all so wrapped up in that fight that I doubt any of them will come."

"Oh ye of little faith," Alec snapped sarcastically as he pulled himself in through the open window. Max could have kissed him she was so happy to see him. Then she saw Zack, Brin, and Jondy pull themselves through the window behind him.

"What are you all doing here?"

Brin smiled teasingly. "Don't ask questions when good luck comes your way. If you really must know, we ran into a very drunk Petey. Don't ask me where he got the alcohol."

Max hugged both sisters as Alec took the syringe from her and pushed it into his own arm. "It might not go as fast as a normal transfusion, but it'll work."

Max held onto Brin's hands as she watched him anxiously. The only thing she could hope was that Logan lived long enough for them to at least give things a shot.

* * *

Kay tried breathing as slowly as possible, trying to calm her body. The pains in her gut wouldn't go away, they felt like they were tearing her in half. She sat in the corner of the room, curled up in a ball and holding her stomach as tightly as possible. Something was seriously wrong, the ominous feeling just wouldn't go away. Even the footsteps coming towards her made her think of Death coming. _Great, now you're really cracking up. Next you'll be seeing the Ghost of Christmas Past. _

It didn't take her too long to realize that the footsteps weren't in her mind, they were real. Slowly raising her head, she sighed with disgust when she saw that it was Ames.

"Don't you know when you're not wanted?"

"That's when I usually decide I want to stick around," he said softly, almost eerily. She looked up and saw the gun in his hand.

"Great, are you going to shoot me if I don't tell you where Ray is? Sorry to tell ya, but I'll gladly take that bullet. I've never been more ready in my life."

He chuckled as he looked down at her. "Did your big evil sister manage to do some damage? Don't look at me like that, I overheard that conversation you two had. It seems you're more than just the average freak. I hope you die feeling special."

Kay leaned back against the wall and shut her eyes as he raised the gun, she would gladly go now after all that had happened. After all, what did she have left? All her friends hated her deeply, Ben was alive and wanted nothing to do with her, and her life mission was over. Thula was dead and disposed of, so the cult was as good as ruined. There was no need to fight them anymore. She had done everything she needed to, as far as she was concerned it was time to go.

Just as she heard him take a step closer, she heard smaller footsteps suddenly come running in and a soft, warm weight fell upon her. She heard Ames gasp, then her eyes shot open as she heard a small voice.

"Dad, don't do it! I don't want Kay to go!"

She looked down at him, and both her and Ames said the same thing at the same time. "Ray?"

His tiny blue eyes stared up at his father, pleading with him silently. Ames clenched his jaw nervously. "Ray, please move. You shouldn't see this."

"Dad, don't do it! Why do you want to shoot her? Mommy's gone, I don't want Kay to go too!"

Kay could tell those words hit Ames like a rock. He would do almost anything for Ray, but this was almost asking too much. "Ray, for the last time, please go wait outside in the hall. I'll be out in a couple seconds."

Ray laid back against Kay and crossed his arms over his chest, doing an incredible impersonation of his father. "I'm not going."

Ames threw down the gun in frustration. "What do you expect me to do? She's hurt already Ray, I'm doing her a favor."

"I don't remember asking for your help," Kay grumbled in reply. He shot her a foul look and looked back at his son.

"Fine, we'll go right now. Will that work?"

Ray's small head shook fiercely. "No, she needs a doctor."

Ames rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting a doctor for her, no one would treat her anyways. You know what they think of transgenics."

Kay looked up at him, she knew that wasn't true. Still, she didn't want or need his help. She would be fine. "Ray, just go with your da..." The words got cut off as a new wave of pain hit her hard. She only clutched at her stomach for an instant before passing out, it was too much for her.

Ray stood up and refused to budge. "Please Dad, take her to the doctor!"

Ames nearly growled out loud. "Fine, but we're leaving her there." He was sure he knew of a few doctors who would help out. If he remembered correctly, Dr. Shankar at Harbor Lights might help them out. He lifted Kay into his arms and walked out of that room with every intention of leaving her at the hospital, but unfortunately for him things got turned around completely.


	19. Epilogue: 4 Months Later

****

The Second Key

By Be Boring

****

Epilogue: 4 Months Later

Kay sat at the kitchen table of the house she'd been living in for the past few months, picking at her eggs. At times her appetite would soar, but the rest of the time even the thought of food would make her stomach lurch in protest. Eggs weren't the best thing to eat when she was in that mood, but Ames insisted that she cram something down her throat or he'd do it for her.

She had been alone for about a half hour now, Ames was taking Ray to school. They lived so far out in No-man's Land that it took him that long just to get to Ray's school. At least the boy was happy, every night when he got home Kay was bombarded with stories and projects until she wished she could tie him up and tape his mouth shut. Ray was the only person she spoke to anymore, the only person other than him living with her was Ames and she never talked to him. Every now and then he would say something to her, but for the most part Ray was the only one she ever spoke to. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with Ames much, he was always at work. He had about three jobs now, so he was rarely ever home. That suited her just fine.

For probably the hundredth time she let her eyes wander over the gun that Ames always kept in one of the kitchen drawers. She took it out every morning after he left and stared at it, wondering if she would have the courage to pull the trigger today. She had gone through her life here in a daze, barely seeing anything as she went through the days. Her life basically consisted of eating, sleeping, picking up Ray's toys when they nearly killed her in the morning, and watching old reruns on TV. It was a lonely existence, and it was one she wanted to end. Her only problem was that she could never work up the courage to end it all, something would scream out at the last minute that maybe things weren't over and she could still go on with her life.

It wasn't really her life that was on her mind anymore, it was the life inside her. That doctor's trip that seemed so long ago had completely changed her life, she just wasn't sure if it was for better or for worse. She could still remember every last detail.

Kay grunted as she came to and tried to sit up. Her first reaction when she saw the white walls was to throw off the covers and try to get out. Everything in her mind was screaming that this was Manticore, that she had been sent back as a punishment. She was stunned to realize that her arm was hooked up to an IV, she had nearly pulled it out with her feeble escape attempt. She stood there for a moment looking around, then looked down and saw that she was wearing a normal hospital gown.

Just as she slid herself back into bed, she heard a loud thud from the other side of the wall. It sounded like someone had just punched it. Her memory started to slowly come back to her, she could remember fighting with Thula, talking with Ben, and finally having Ray defend her. The only thing she could come up with for her presence here was that Ray had convinced Ames to take her to the hospital. She only hoped that she didn't wind up being lynched or something by the public.

The door to her room opened and a woman in a doctor's uniform walked in. Kay was tense at first, but something in the woman's eyes calmed her down. She had the feeling that she wasn't in trouble.

"You'll have to be more careful next time."

Kay raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Ames' face appeared briefly in the doorway behind the doctor, he looked completely pissed off. The doctor, however, was oblivious to this. "You put yourself through too much stress, you nearly lost the baby."

Everything went dead quiet as Kay stared up at the doctor in shock. "Excuse me?"

The doctor smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, I should have realized you might not have known about the pregnancy. It is in the first trimester, after all."

Kay looked down at her stomach, could there really be something growing in there? "How far along am I?"

"Almost a month."

Well, it wasn't like she really needed to hear that, she already knew. She must have gotten pregnant during her last heat cycle. The tears seemed to burn far back in her eyes, but they never really made an appearance. She just didn't how to react to this. The doctor seemed to sense how she felt.

"I'll leave you alone to your thoughts, but if you need me just ask the nurses for me. I'm Dr. Shankar."

Kay nodded blindly, not even watching as Dr. Shankar walked out of the room. This couldn't be happening, it simply couldn't. These thoughts were still running through her mind when she heard Ames' angry voice in the hall.

"Doctor, no one is to know about this, do you understand? I don't care who asks you, this is to be kept completely private."

That hadn't even occurred to her. What if Max or any one of the others found out? What if Ben found out? She couldn't take it if that happened. She didn't even look up as Ames entered the room and stood next to her bed.

"What do you want?" she asked blankly, not a single drop of emotion escaping into her voice or onto her face.

He studied her carefully for a moment. "I don't want anyone outside of this room to know about this. The Conclave can never find out, and I'm sure you don't want your transgenic friends to know either."

Kay kept her eyes on her blanket at all times. "What do you suggest I do about that? Abortion is too risky these days, every woman who goes for it seems to get an infection and die. It's not like I can just tell this baby to go away."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm going into hiding with Ray and I want you to come with us."

Now she looked up at him. "You've got to be kidding."

He looked back down at her steadily. "Do I look like I'm kidding? I want to keep an eye on you and the child, I don't want any chance of this coming out."

"And to think I believed you were doing it out of the kindness of your heart!" she snapped sarcastically. "Do you really think I want anyone to know about this? I'm not going to be stupid enough to advertise it."

"Be that as it may, you're still coming with me."

She held up both hands in mock surrender. "Fine, I'll come. Just don't expect life to be happy."

Ames sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm not. In fact, I think it's going to be downright miserable."

Well, he had been right on the money with that one. Life _was_ miserable, at least it was for her. The gun on the counter still looked so tempting, but she knew she wouldn't use it. She had to think about her child, she couldn't just take away its chance for a life. Whether she gave birth to a boy or a girl, that child deserved to have its shot in this world, no matter how cruel the world was. She wasn't even sure what it would be. Her entire family was only supposed to give birth to girls, but his family only produced boys. She supposed it was more likely that she would have a son, but there was always a chance of it being a girl.

Kay's eyes glanced at the clock. She had been alone for nearly an hour now. _Just seven more hours to go before Ames brings Ray home and leaves me alone with the kid again._ Ray couldn't be more excited to be getting a brother or sister. It didn't seem to affect him that it wasn't Wendy having the child, he still knew it would be his family. _At least my baby will have someone cheering for it in the real world._

Throwing the gun back into the drawer, Kay made her way to the bathroom. The only positive thing she'd been able to come up with in all of this was that they had hot water.

* * *

Max rolled onto her side and opened her eyes. Even though this was how she'd been waking up for the last few months, she still couldn't get used to it. It was still a thrill to open her eyes and see Logan laying next to her, sleeping soundly without a care in the world. Well, he did have some cares, he was back to being Eyes Only full time again. She'd even done a few missions for him, but he hadn't given her anything serious to do. Most of the major stuff he gave to Alec and Jondy, they were the ones with the most time on their hands. She had other important things to think about. 

Ever since the night of the battle, the whole country was confused. It was practically split right down the middle. The transgenics had made a good video from the footage they had of that night, and that tape made it clear that the transgenics weren't the enemy. Some of Thula's blood that was found in the heating room had been tested to give proof of the virus in her system, then the blood had been disposed of. They had basically given all the evidence they needed to prove they were on the country's side, but people seemed to still hate them. At least the number of transgenic haters had gone down, but those people were out there all the same.

Max scooted closer to Logan and put an arm around him. His eyes fluttered open after a moment, then he lifted himself up onto his elbow and smiled down at her. He leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her lips then pulled back to look down at her again.

"Good morning."

She smiled back at him and relaxed into the soft bed. "Good morning to you too."

He flopped onto his back again and stretched out. "I don't suppose you're waiting for another culinary miracle, are you?"

She grinned and cuddled up next to him. "Does that give you an answer?"

Logan laughed as he felt her stomach growl against his ribs. "I guess this means I have to get out of bed. What do you want for breakfast?"

Max rested her head on his shoulder and smiled thoughtfully. "I can't decide. Why don't you surprise me?"

"One surprise miracle coming up." He slid out of the bed and pulled on his robe, then slowly made his way into the kitchen. Just before losing sight of the bedroom, he turned and watched her pull the blankets around herself and curl up into a tiny ball.

Logan couldn't believe how new things still felt. It had been about four months now, but every time they touched it still felt like the first time. He remembered the thrill that had gone through him after she had taken the shot of blood from the vial. Just to make sure it worked, they had let it go through her system for almost a week before letting them touch. Everyone had even been forced to separate them during this time, they wanted to just hold each other so badly that they couldn't sit in the same room together without trying to sneak closer together. Brin had finally threatened to make him live with Zack if he didn't cooperate, that got him to shut up pretty fast.

He heard the shower turn on as he cooked and studied what was in the pan. It was almost done, he could just stuff it in the refrigerator after that. He smiled to himself, he may as well not throw away a perfectly good opportunity to be with Max. For some reason they had never showered together yet, that was something he wanted to change.

Max smiled and rolled her eyes when she felt his arms go around her waist. She turned to face him, the grin never leaving her face. "Can't a girl get any alone time?"

Logan could see by her eyes she didn't mean that. "I'm afraid not. If you want to be alone, you'll have to make me leave."

"I just don't seem to have the energy this morning." Although she kissed him sweetly, he could feel something was off.

"Are you missing Joshua?"

She sighed and stepped away from him to grab the shampoo. "I guess I just feel kind of bad that I'm here with you in his old house and he's still in Terminal City."

"Other people still don't feel right about the ones like him though, you can't change that for him."

"I know, but I wish I could. If anyone deserves to be free, it's Joshua. All of his friends are gone. I'm here with you, Luke, Mole, and Dix are dead, and Jondy, Brin, Alec, and Zack are outside Terminal City. Not even Gem and Ty are there to keep him company anymore. Pretty much the only friend he has is Petey, but I don't know if that's worth much."

"He'll be fine. Joshua's a lot stronger than you give him credit for. He made it through Annie's death with flying colors, and it's not like you're dead. You can still go visit him."

A tiny smile crossed her face. "Maybe I'll go see him after work. Speaking of work, I have to get moving. Normal will shoot me if I'm late."

Logan chuckled as she hurriedly rinsed the suds out of her hair. "Same old, same old, huh?

She grinned back at him. "Blah blah woof woof."

* * *

Alec grimaced slightly at the grin that broke out on Normal's face when he saw his favorite employee. _Why did I ever let Jondy talk me into this? _Jondy just snickered under her breath at his reaction. He had been doing his best to get another job, but they had finally come close to going broke. That was when she had told him he had to either start working back at JamPony or she would go live on her own. 

"There's my Golden Boy! I don't suppose you want to take back your old place here, do ya?"

Alec hesitated, then continued when Jondy prodded him in the back. "Uh yeah, I, uh, kind of need my old job back. If that's a problem I completely understand and I won't bother you again." _Please tell me you don't have any room left, pleasepleasepleaseplease! _Well, that wasn't going to happen.

"Of course you can have your old job back! What kind of person would I be if I just turned my back on a good man like yourself?"

"Uh, not a very good one?" At this comment Jondy burst out laughing. Now Normal looked over at her.

"Who are you?"

She smiled sweetly and let Alec throw a protective arm around her. "I'm Alec's roomy."

Normal looked confused for a moment, then the true meaning of what she had said finally hit home with him. "Oh, I see. Do you need a job by any chance?"

She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Alec, who just rolled his eyes in response. "I'm so glad you asked."

About a half hour later they were arguing again as she went with him on a run. "Why did you need to work here too?"

"Do you have a problem with your girlfriend working with you?" she teased.

"No, it's just that you're not really my girlfriend, you're more of my girl. The word 'friend' doesn't fit in there anywhere. You're too mean to me to be my friend!" he protested.

She just laughed as he walked up and got the signature for his package, then started talking again once he came back to her. "You haven't seen Brin or Zack today, have you?"

"I didn't until right now."

Jondy turned to see Brin and Zack headed for them. It was still hard for her to picture them together, but it seemed to work for them. Brin was nearly bouncing with excitement.

"Is Max back at JamPony?"

Alec straightened his backpack out on his shoulders. "She's running late, but I don't think that surprises anyone. She'll be in sometime today."

Jondy couldn't help but laugh at her sister's antics. "What's going on? What's got you so excited?"

A half smile came out on Zack's face. "Maybe we should wait until we get back to JamPony and see Max. She should be around when we share the news."

"What news? Oh come on, you know I'm gonna bug you until you tell me!" Jondy insisted. He just shook his head and smiled slightly again.

"You'll have to wait."

An hour later Jondy was shaking in place in JamPony, struggling to wait for Max who seemed to have decided not to show up today. What really made her mad was that Brin knew what the news was but wouldn't tell her. What kind of sister was that?

Max found herself nearly tackled when she walked into JamPony. "What's going on?"

"We've been waiting for you so we can find out!"

Max didn't know what to say. "You'll have to say that a little slower so I have a shot at understanding you."

Alec just grabbed her and dragged her over to a table. He wanted to get this done as soon as possible so Jondy would calm down. As soon as everyone was sitting, Zack reached into his pocket and handed a slip of paper to Max. Jondy's head popped over Max's shoulder to read it.

Max couldn't have been more confused. "This is just a bunch of addresses. Why did you want me to see these?"

Brin's face split into an eager smile. "After some persuasion on my part, Zack finally coughed up the addresses of everybody. Syl, Krit, Zane, and everyone else, they're all on that list."

Max couldn't believe her eyes. She had always wanted to find them, but Zack had been obstinate about it and refused to let her know. She jumped up and threw her arms around Zack, who looked a little embarrassed at the public display of emotion.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, really!"

Max rolled her eyes. "Not that big of a deal? I've been wanting to see everyone for a long time, this is a huge deal! When can I see them?"

He shrugged, it wasn't something he'd really thought about. "I guess anytime you want to. We could go see them this weekend if you wanted to."

"You'd better start hotwiring cars, I'm ready to go now!"

* * *

Kay sighed in contentment as she started rinsing the soap from her body. If there was one thing about the bathroom that she loved more than the hot water, it was the shower. She had to lock the door every time she used it, otherwise anyone could just walk in and see her. It was completely open, no curtains or anything to block the view of her. That didn't really bother her, after all, she could lock the door. The actual shower stall was large enough for ten people to stand with plenty of personal space. She liked having open space like this when she showered, it somehow made it more enjoyable. 

She paused in her rinsing as her hands fell over her belly. Being five months pregnant, she was just starting to really show. It would be another month before it became truly noticeable while she was wearing clothes, right now it just looked like she had gained some weight. Still, without anything on she could look down and see the change of her stomach. She actually looked pregnant, but she doubted she had the glow most mothers seemed to have. If anything, her glow had completely disappeared after she found out the news.

A tear ran down her cheek and landed on her swollen belly, just making her cry harder. Wasn't this supposed to be the best time in a woman's life? Rather than a life beginning, she felt like hers was ending. She turned the water so it was almost scaldingly hot, then stood under it to let everything fade away. Right now if that gun had been sitting in front of her she might have made a grab for it.

As she turned off the water, she tried to dry her cheeks. She wasn't sobbing, but the tears just seemed to keep coming. When she reached for a towel, something near the door caught her eye. Almost as if in defeat, she just sighed and pulled the towel around herself.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Ames stepped away from his comfortable position by the door. He had been leaning there for the past ten minutes with his arms crossed while he watched her shower. It wasn't to be perverted, it was simply a good way to think. He had always used to watch Wendy shower, that was when he got his best thinking done. There had been a shooting on the street where his first job of the day was, so he'd gotten the day off. Now he didn't have any work to do until he went to get Ray.

"Just a little while."

Her expression hardly changed, it was almost as if she didn't care that he'd been watching her. Somehow that didn't surprise him. He'd noticed one time when he came home that she'd forgotten to put the gun away. He knew perfectly well how she was feeling each day, the same as he knew there wasn't much he could do about it. It wasn't like he hadn't tried, he'd attempted to start conversations before but all he got in return was some grunts. It wasn't that he wanted to suddenly become friends, but he didn't want to be so damn uncomfortable in his own house. There wasn't much left in her, that much he knew for sure.

Kay walked towards him so she could get out the door. For some reason it didn't even bother her that she was crying in front of him, she simply didn't care anymore. As she started to step past him, her wet foot slipped slightly on the tile floor. Ames immediately reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, easily keeping her up. He could feel her shaking under his touch. How upset could she be?

Kay didn't mind his hand on her so much, but after nearly a minute when he didn't release her she tried to pull her arm back. "Let go."

Ames removed his hand and she nearly fell down again. This time he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her, then scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. After dropping her on the queen-sized bed he had gotten for her, he pulled back the blankets and covered her up with them. It was almost like having another child in the house, there was something wrong in her head and it seemed to have made her almost helpless. He reached under the blanket and removed the wet towel, then when he reached the door he turned around and looked back at her. She was laying in the exact same position he had dropped her in, she hadn't moved an inch even to make herself more comfortable.

Against his better judgment, Ames walked back over to the bed and sat down. "Do you plan to keep torturing yourself forever?"

Now her eyes looked up at him, still striking him as blank. "Do you think I'm torturing myself?"

"You sit there and stare at a gun every morning, trying to decide whether or not to kill yourself. You don't consider that self-torture?"

"How did you--"

"I saw the gun out one day. I know what you were doing because I did the same thing after I killed Wendy. The thing that always convinced me not to kill myself is the exact same thing for you, I had to take care of my child. I knew I couldn't kill myself and leave Ray, just as you know you can't kill yourself and kill your child along with you."

Kay rolled over so she wasn't facing him anymore. "This kid is the only thing left, if it wasn't for him or her, I wouldn't be here right now."

"I kind of figured."

"Why do you even care?"

"I don't, but it's kind of uncomfortable living with you right now. I've had more interesting conversations with the walls."

She turned her head to look at him again. "Do you really expect me to be talkative?"

He clenched a jaw tightly, he was sick of her feeling sorry for herself. "I expect you to move on with your life and to stop moping around. You asked me once if I would be able to go on without the cult and I've proven that I can. Now you need to prove you can move on without all your old friends. I've made a fresh start, it's time for you to do the same. The way you walk around it's like you're a dead woman walking."

She scowled at him and looked away. "Don't try and give me a pep talk, you suck at it. What do you expect me to do, kick your ass just to prove I'm alive?"

"Something like that would be nice. As long as you do something out of your everyday routine. What would you do if I did this?"

Kay couldn't have been more surprised when Ames turned her face towards him and kissed her. If she had thought he was really going to do something to get a reaction out of her, she never would have expected him to do that. She didn't really know why, but she let him kiss her. When he pulled his head back, he looked down at her almost in disgust.

"You didn't even do anything to that! I would have at least expected to get hit in the head."

"To hell with what you expected." With that she grabbed his head and pulled it back down. He wanted a reaction, well he got one. She only parted their lips for a moment. "Why don't you work a little harder at getting a reaction out of me?"

"As you wish," he whispered huskily, then slid under the covers with her.

* * *

Max's hands were twisting in her lap as Logan drove the Aztec through the middle of Chicago. Brin and Jondy were sitting in the back seat while Zack and Alec were crammed into the space in the very back of the vehicle. The four of them had had a fight over the back seat which they finally just solved by flipping coins. Brin and Jondy had won, but Alec was still complaining they had done something funky to tip the odds in their favor. Jondy had laughed it off saying it was a coin toss, what could they have done to favor themselves? 

Max couldn't wait to see her family. Right now they were headed to Zane's place and Max could not have been more excited to see her big brother. She had managed to get as many details about him as she could out of Zack, but he wasn't really good at telling stories. She would just have to wait until she saw Zane in the flesh to bombard him with questions.

"Is that it?" She pointed to a white house off to their left. Zack shook his head from the back of the Aztec.

"No, he's on the next street over."

"But you said he lives in a white house!"

Logan laughed out loud. "Max, there's lots of white houses in Chicago."

Jondy turned around in her seat. "So Zack, what's the name of his dog again?"

"Keisha if it's female, Pablo if it's male. He gets a different dog right after one dies or he's forced to get rid of one, and those are the names he always chooses from."

Logan turned down a side street into a residential area, they weren't so much in the industrial section of Chicago anymore. The houses here looked a little more like a normal town. Max frowned and bit down on her lip.

"Which one is his? They're all white!"

Logan looked at the slip of paper with the addresses. "Look for number 309."

Brin pointed out her side of the Aztec. "That's it right there!"

Sure enough, they could see a large German Shepherd dog in the backyard. Logan pulled up into the driveway while Max, Brin, and Jondy were already starting to open their doors. He hadn't even put the vehicle into park when they jumped out and ran up to the front door. Alec and Zack pulled themselves into the back seat and Zack slid out the side door while Alec just stretched out in his spot. Logan turned to look at him from his spot in the driver's seat.

"Was that a fun ride?" he joked.

Alec rolled his eyes. "If I'm ever that close to Zack again, you have my full permission to shoot me. I don't know why I came along anyways, I don't know this guy and I wound up getting the worst seat in the whole damn place!"

Logan shrugged. "I don't know him either, but I know how excited Max is to see him. I'll wind up talking to him sometime or another, so I figured the least I could do was drive."

"See, I'm not like you. I care about Jondy and all, but I still prefer doing things for me. If you can tell me one positive thing I'll get out of this, I'll give you twenty bucks."

Logan thought for a moment, then looked at the house to make sure no one was listening before he said "She'll be pretty excited by the time she gets back in bed with you tonight."

Alec's eyes lit up. "Logan, my man, I didn't know you had a dirty mind! Here ya go, you just gave me the best reason for coming along!" He slapped a twenty dollar bill into Logan's hand, then jumped out of the Aztec and hurried up to the door to stand next to Jondy while Max rang the doorbell. Logan looked at the money in his hand and chuckled, then stuffed it into his pocket and followed Alec's lead.

Brin gave Max a tight squeeze from behind as she pressed the doorbell. They heard it ring throughout the house and the dog's barking came from the backyard. They could clearly hear someone walking through the house, then the door opened and Max, Brin, and Jondy's faces lit up. Things were starting to look brighter.

* * *

Kay's eyes opened slowly as she leaned back into the warmth behind her. Ames was sound asleep with his arms around her, keeping her back pressed firmly against his chest and one of his arms protectively gripping her pregnant belly. As strange as it was to think of who she was laying there with, she couldn't have been happier. She glanced up at the bedside clock. Ray would be getting out of school in a half hour, which would give them just enough time to make it there. 

She moved her elbow back to bump him in the ribs. "Get up, we've got to go get Ray."

A muffled 'hmmph' came from her hair, then Ames released her and slid back so he could see the clock. "Damn, time flies," he groaned, then stretched out on his back and grabbed the phone.

"What are you doing?" Kay asked as she slid closer to him to hear the conversation.

"Calling someone."

"I think I noticed that!"

She heard the phone ringing on the other end, then a woman's voice came on the line. "Hello?"

"Danielle? It's Ames, Ray's dad. Could he spend the night at your house? I'm kind of busy and I know he's been dying to stay at Ricky's house."

Kay slid back, her curiosity satisfied. As soon as Ames hung up, he dialed another number."Dave, it's Ames. I won't be coming into work tonight, I just can't seem to get out of bed."

Kay covered her mouth to keep from laughing, she could see what he was doing now. He made another similar call to his last job of the day, or rather his night job, and said he couldn't get out of bed. Once he finally put the phone back, she raised an eyebrow.

"Can't get out of bed, huh? That must be awful."

"Oh believe me, it is." He slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her so they were in the same position as before. Before she knew it, he had fallen asleep again with his face resting in her hair.

Although she wasn't altogether unhappy anymore, Kay knew things still weren't going to be good again. She didn't love Ames any more than he loved her, in fact they were closer to hating each other than anything else. Still, the facts were that they understood each other and had no one else to turn to. This wasn't going to be happily ever after, she knew that, but it wasn't necessarily going to be horrible either. As long as they didn't get in each other's way, they would be just fine.

* * *

The entire warehouse was dead silent, the only noises in it were too muffled to be heard by the average ear. A man sat in a dark room, fighting his restraints but getting nowhere. The back of his neck was still sore from earlier, the tattoo on his neck still stung. He had thought before that he had a chance of making it out of here alive. There had been another man here with strange red eyes, and he had been kind and kept trying to convince the captor to let him go. For some reason he had dropped to the ground in a seizure the other day and his captor had proclaimed him dead. That had been his last chance of survival. 

His captor's dark shape suddenly entered the room, staying just out of the man's line of vision. He already knew what his captor looked like, this was more just to make him feel uncomfortable. He felt his wrist restraints being taken off, then the legs. The cold metal of a gun was pushed into his hand and he gripped it gladly. He might get away now.

As soon as the door was open, he shot out. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't about to question it. Had his captor had a sudden strike made to his conscience? He didn't really care, just as long as he made it away.

The woods seemed too quiet as he darted through them. It felt as though anyone could hear the beat of his heart right now, not to mention his heavy breathing. A slight rustle in the leaves behind him made him jump around and fire his gun on impulse. When the silence resumed, he nearly burst out laughing in relief. It must have been a squirrel or something. Yeah, that was it, it must have been a squirrel.

Another rustling sound made him jump again, but this time he held his fire. Shooting would just give him away even more. Sweat dripped from his body as he flattened himself against a tree. The noise was somewhere in front of him. _It's just a squirrel, it's just a squirrel, it's just a squirrel! _After about a minute, the rustling stopped. He let out his breath in one long whoosh as he stepped away from the tree. His relief wasn't long lasting, but neither was his fear. He only felt the hands on his neck for a moment, then the world went black.

Ben leaned down and lifted up the dead man's body, pulling off the necklace of the Virgin Mary that dangled from his neck. He smiled coldly as he dropped the body against the bent trunk of a tree. This spot would do fine for the display, it wouldn't take too much for anyone to find him here.

Chris had died the other day from the implant. Ben still felt lonely, after all, he had spent so much time with that man. Even after Ben's body had recovered they had stuck together. Now Ben looked exactly as he had before the incident in Gillette. Better yet, his strength was back to normal. He indulged in another smile as he broke his victim's arm so he could position him better on the tree. He had told Kay that he had his own life to get back to, now he couldn't have been happier to be back. All distractions were gone now and he planned to return to his life with a flourish.


End file.
